Congress told: Don't let social media firms operate unchecked amid disinfo threat

MANILA, Philippines — A legal disinformation expert pressed the House Tri-Committee to focus on regulating social media platforms, cautioning that foreign tech firms should not be allowed to operate unchecked in the country, which is currently the case.

Movement Against Disinformation (MAD) Executive Director Grace Salonga said on Thursday, June 5, that social media platforms have “enabled the spread of disinformation” because, at their core, they function as profit-driven businesses.

“We at MAD respectfully urge the Tri-Committee to center its attention on the indispensable and continuing role of social media platforms in enabling and exacerbating this societal problem of disinformation,” she said. 

Like substance abuse, which is controlled by cutting off supply and distribution, Salonga said online disinformation can effectively be curbed by regulating the platforms that enable, incentivize and amplify its spread.

“[Social media platforms] are imbued with public interest similar to a critical public communication infrastructure,” Salonga added, stressing that the government should be keeping tabs on foreign corporations operating as “de facto public infrastructure” in the country. 

RELATED: Walking the tightrope: Can laws tame disinformation, 'fake news' without crushing free speech?

Social media rewards disinfo

The committee has focused on coordinated online disinformation, including trolls, bot networks and influential users like vloggers. But she stressed that platforms themselves must receive the same level of attention.

“It is their engagement-driven algorithm, profit-maximizing metrics and advertising-based monetization systems that fuel disinformation and provide business opportunities for bad actors,” Salonga said. 

“Facebook’s reward system incentivizes disinformation. This creates a marketplace of disinformation,” she added. 

Citing Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who in 2018 said Facebook runs ads to sustain its free-to-use model, Salonga underscored how the platform largely profits from user engagement.

She said Facebook, which has the largest number of active users, operates on a business model built around targeted advertising. It uses an algorithm designed solely “to amplify the most engaging content, regardless of its accuracy or impact.”

Unregulated by Philippine law

Given its influence and ability to disseminate information, she argued that Facebook meets the criteria for mass media under Philippine law, as it helps shape the public discourse. 

This means they should be subject to the same strict regulations imposed on media firms in the country, similar to how the advertising industry is governed by laws that prohibit false, deceptive and misleading content.

Media organizations, for instance, are required to secure congressional franchises before they can operate.

“If Facebook and other social media platforms are doing business in the Philippines and could be considered advertising companies and mass media entities operating and doing business in the Philippines, then they should be regulated and governed by Philippine law,” Salonga said. 

Establishing a regulatory body to oversee social media platforms, she said, is key to stopping click farms, troll farms and paid keyboard warriors, which are “used to artificially amplify narratives” and manipulate public opinion for political gain.

A bill has recently been filed seeking to penalize the creation and dissemination of “fake news” and disinformation, with definitions more aligned with those of scholars. However, it does not cover social media platforms.

RELATED: Anti-fake news bill seeks up to 12-year jail time, P2M fine for disinfo peddlers

Weak Facebook standards

During the 2025 midterm elections, Meta reportedly improved in taking down election-related disinformation on Facebook, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said. 

However, DICT Assistant Secretary for Legal Affairs Renato Paraiso expressed dissatisfaction with Meta’s “context-based evaluation” of posts where loopholes allow disinformation to perpetuate online.   

At the final Tri-Comm hearing, DICT chief Henry Aguda said Meta informed them of how it reduces the reach of flagged false content but stops short of removing it entirely. 

Meta’s explanation was not new, as the company had already detailed the same process in a previous hearing. 

RELATED: Meta boasts ties with Philippine fact-checkers at disinfo hearing despite eventual phaseout

Presidential Communications Office Secretary Jay Ruiz said he was disappointed that platforms did not remove content it flagged as a national security threat, simply because it did not violate their internal guidelines. 

In response, Rep. Geraldine Roman (Bataan, 1st District) said she plans to file a bill creating where the government and civil society groups work together to regulate social media platforms, instead of leaving the task to a single government agency.

“As I had said, the establishment of a government watchdog agency over content creation reeks of censorship,” she said at the hearing. 

The measure would require social media platforms to register their companies in the Philippines, establish a legal entity subject to domestic laws and comply with the Digital Media Standards Council of the Philippines.

The Tri-Comm terminated its probe into the proliferation of "fake news" and disinformation in the country on Thursday, just a few days before the 19th Congress ends.

RELATED: Meta open to engage with Philippines in regulating social media platforms