Duterte to sign social media policy next month

MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte is expected to sign next month an administrative order on the guidelines for government agencies and employees’ use of social media, according to the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).

The DICT said the technical working group is finalizing the draft policy that will soon be submitted to Malacañang for the approval of the President.

The policy, the agency said, aims to guide government employees in achieving safe and productive use of various social media platforms in communicating and engaging the public.

DICT assistant secretary Carlos Caliwara said it would promote various principles, including the public’s right to information and privacy, as well as responsibility, truth and transparency among government employees.

The draft policy provides a framework and technical guidelines for government agencies in managing their social media accounts and establishes a basic rule for responsible and safe use of social media by civil service officers.

It also promotes the use of social media to “foster good governance, transparency and accountability, citizen participation, productivity and organizational performance and improvement of public service delivery.”

Based on the draft document previously released by the DICT, a social media team will be created to handle the social media accounts of government agencies. They will be tasked, among others, a participation policy that governs the expected behavior of users of the online discussion or community.

The policy also outlines prohibited content, including blackmail, pornography, malicious content, copyrighted material, unrelated jokes or information, suspicious links and opinions.