Pangilinan wants Facebook penalized over fake news

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Francis Pangilinan on Wednesday filed Philippine Senate Resolution 271, which seeks to conduct inquiries into social media platforms that allow the spread of fake news.

 

Pangilinan filed PSR 271 to hold hearings on the rise of fake news and misinformation on social media platforms, especially on Facebook, and penalize them for failing "to provide an environment that enables the balanced flow of information into, out of, and across the country."

 

Pangilinan told Philstar.com that they are still researching the appropriate penalties but said that the amount "will have to 'hurt' the giant social media company" for it to act on the sudden increase of fake news on the internet.

 

Citing a Statistica Report, the senator said the Philippines has 59.2 million internet users as of 2016 and that 22 million Facebook users were engaged in conversations about the 2016 Philippine elections last May out of 47 million active users in the Philippinesreported by Facebook.

 

"The propagation of fake news stories has become an effective weapon of several political operatives to influence public opinion and national discourse," Pangilinan said in the resolution, adding that social media platforms should be held responsible and accountable for allowing fake news to proliferate. An independent organization will screen the flagged items 

 

Pangilinan also noted the criticisms that Facebook and other social media platforms received after the Philippine presidential elections due to the increase of misinformation and of fake news sites.

 

Facebook has already rolled out -- in the US and in Germany -- a tool that will allow users to flag supposed fake news, the UK-based Telegraph reported in its Technology section this week. Those found to have misinformation will be flagged as disputed and users will be warned that they are about to share a disputed article. Disputed articles will not affect Faceook's algorithm, which determines what users see on their individual feeds.

 

"The conversion of false stories into major news topics in this era of post-truth politics has become problematic not only in the Philippines, but also in other parts of the world," Pangilinan said, adding that fake news had a wider reach than actual news during the US presidential elections.

 

Pangilinan said that the constitution should protect the freedom of the Filipinos, especially after a surge of abuse through the spread of "falsehoods, defamation, character assassination and national security threats" on social media.

 

"It is therefore in the interest of the State to protect the integrity of cyberspace so that it will become a tool for development, and not a tool for sowing dissent and virulent tribalism," Pangilinan added.

 

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV also filed Senate Resolution 259 on Wednesday, urging the Senate Committee on Public Information to investigate so-called "social media trolls" responsible for creating and spreading misleading news and information.

 

The resolution also calls for the Senate to investigate the sudden surge of "false, erroneous, distorted, fabricated and/or misleading" news and information on social media.

 

READ: Senate probe into fake news, trolls sought

 

Pangilinan's PSR 271, which has yet to be referred to a Senate committee, does not specify monetary penalties, but the hearings will look into how social media companies can be held accountable for the spread of fake news. 

 

Facebook opened their office in the Philippines in April 2016, naming Digs Dimagiba, former head of the information technology and mobile division of Samsung Philippines, as country manager. Twitter does not have a Philippine office but has one in nearby Singapore.

 

The resolutions come on the heels of orders that the National Telecommunications Commission sent to Internet Service Providers to block adult websites for allegedly violating the law against child pornography. 

 

READ: Facebook launches Philippine office