Bato wants inquiry on FB ‘censorship’

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa is seeking a Senate investigation into the takedown of more than 200 accounts belonging to two networks, some of which were linked to the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police (PNP) by social media giant Facebook.

Dela Rosa filed Senate Resolution 531 calling for an inquiry into the “censorship action” of Facebook with the view to “ensuring the protection and non-curtailment of the constitutional guaranteed right of freedom of speech and expression.”

“There is an urgent need for the Senate to investigate the censorship done by Facebook, considering that it affects not only the peace and order and security of our country but likewise greatly affects every Filipino’s freedom of expression as guaranteed by no less than the Philippine Constitution,” Dela Rosa said in his resolution.

Facebook last month announced it took down two separate networks for alleged violation of policy against “coordinated inauthentic behavior,” one of which originated in China and the other in the Philippines.

He noted that 57 accounts – 31 pages and 21 Instagram profiles – were taken down, which included content supportive of President Duterte; criticism of Rappler online news website; issues relevant to overseas Filipino workers; military activities against terrorism; anti-terrorism law; criticism of communism, youth activist and opposition; posts against the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its military wing New People’s Army (NPA) and the National Democratic Front.

Dela Rosa, a former PNP chief, said one of the pages shut down was “Hands Off Our Children,” an advocacy page launched by group of parents fighting to protect their children against violent extremism and has been actively calling out communist rebels who recruit children as their combatants.

He cited the statement of Armed Forces chief Gen. Gilbert Gapay that the Facebook page is instrumental in the campaign to raise awareness of the vulnerability of minors to recruitment by communist front organizations such as the CPP-NPA.

The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the Philippines.

He lamented the censorship made by the social network platform while some Facebook pages and profiles allegedly supporting and promoting the violent activities and ideologies of the CPP-NPA were not taken down.

“The censorship campaign against child recruitment of the communist terrorist group could hamper the efforts to prevent the spread of violent extremism in the country,” Dela Rosa said.

Meanwhile, the environmental group Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (PNE) urged Facebook to set up a human rights desk to continue its efforts in ensuring a democratic, safe and sound platform.

Clemente Bautista of PNE said Facebook removed last September pages linked to the military and police for activities misleading users.

The social media giant said that fake coordinated activities are violations of the company’s policy.

“Closed accounts include posts of political colors, about terrorism, disputes over the internationally recognized arbitrary case of the West Philippine Sea and red-tagging of various individuals,” he said.

Bautista said the upsurge of unverified and formulated news against civil society organizations, people’s networks and private individuals leading to harassment is alarming. “The uncalled for red-tagging has made humanitarian works dangerous, most especially during this crucial pandemic time we face.”

The group had a dialogue with UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Mary Lawlor last June to assess the impact of social media, particularly Facebook, on human rights and environmental advocates.

“Volunteers and staff of Kalikasan PNE, likewise, experienced first-hand intimidation by unverified accounts, thus we support the move of Facebook in upholding the safety and security of anyone who uses their platform. This, as well, is beneficial to the humanitarian works and environmental protection efforts by activists and advocates in the Philippines,” said Bautista. –  Rhodina Villanueva