Poe wants inquiry into social media sites’ guidelines

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Grace Poe on Friday said the Senate should look into the guidelines of social networking sites to ensure that these do not infringe individuals’ right to freedom of information.

Poe’s statement came days after Facebook removed the posts of Manila Bulletin columnist Tonyo Cruz and educator Gang Badoy condemning the alleged compromise deal between the government and the Marcoses.

She noted that aside from the posts of Cruz and Badoy, some posts of netizens dealing with controversial issues were reportedly removed from the platform for allegedly not complying the site’s community standards.

“We need to know the clear guidelines of social media organizations in handling the activities of their users and make sure that these neither infringe on the individual’s right to freedom of speech and expression nor allow the abuse of such freedom,” Poe said.

READ: NUJP hits Facebook for censoring anti-Marcos posts

Poe, the chair of the Senate committee on public information and mass media, said her panel should have an inquiry into the guidelines of social media sites.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines on Wednesday condemned Facebook for its “arbitrary community standards, which are often used as a basis for expurgating critical and thought-provoking commentaries.”

In a statement, Facebook said the platform initially removed the posts of Cruz and Badoy for violating its privacy policy because they contain addresses and phone numbers.

“Upon further review and with additional context we determined this information was already being shared publicly and therefore does not violate our privacy policy, hence, we restored the content and sent an apology,” it said.