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Palace says Rappler, Vera Files partisan, calls for ‘more partial arbiter of truth’


Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque on Monday called for a "more partial arbiter of truth" as he joined the opposition to Facebook's decision to tap media companies Rappler and Vera Files to counter fake news on the social media giant.

While Roque acknowledged that Facebook's move to tap fact checkers is the "solution" against the proliferation of fake news, he said "there are those who are complaining that the chosen 'police of the truth,' so to speak, are sometimes partisan themselves."

"And of course this is the problem with truth that can be subjective depending on your political perspective. That is why I commiserate with those who object to the selection of Rappler and Vera Files because we know where they stand in the political spectrum," Roque said at a press briefing.

Rappler has repeatedly earned the ire of President Rodrigo Duterte and other Palace officials over what they view as irresponsible reporting that culminated with a ban on Rappler reporter Pia Rañada from all presidential coverage.

The news site's incorporation papers had also been ordered revoked by the Securities and Exchange Commission for supposedly violating the constitutional prohibition on foreign ownership of mass media.

The Palace, meanwhile, had earlier challenged Vera Files to prove its claim that Duterte and his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, had failed to fully disclose P100 million worth of joint deposits and investments in their Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN).

In a brief statement, Vera Files countered that it is partisan, pointing out that it is an accredited fact checker by the International Fact Checking Network (IFCN), a global alliance of fact-checkers committed to advancing accountability journalism.

"One of the requirements for an IFCN accreditation is non-partisanship and fairness," it said.

Communications Undersecretary Lorraine Badoy said efforts are underway for the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) and Facebook to "discuss and hopefully, reach agreements that will get us closer to our shared goal of responsible and intelligent use of social media."

"We would also like to register our protest at the choice of fact-checkers by Facebook and this will be on the agenda when we finally get to sit with them soon," she said.

"In the end, our shared space is a reflection of who we are as a people. This amazing 20th century fire —the internet—is nothing more than a tool that we can choose to use for good or for grief and destruction."

Facebook has already started blocking several pro-Duterte websites suspected to have been peddling fake news, prompting some administration supporters to broach the idea of leaving Facebook and shifting to Russia-based online social network VK.com.

Roque, in response, said these users should air their concerns to Facebook. 

"The users of Facebook should make known their wishes to Facebook itself, that there should be a more partial arbiter of the truth," he said.

"The possibility of shifting is always there. Of course, there’s the worldwide movement to delete Facebook not just because of their moves in the Philippines, but because also of privacy concerns," Roque said, in apparent reference to the controversy involving the social media platform and British political consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica.

Facebook has said that 1.1 million accounts of Filipinos may have been improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica, which was accused of using Facebook users’ data to aid the campaign of United States President Donald Trump.

Cambridge Analytica has denied wrongdoing, saying it engaged a university professor "in good faith" to collect Facebook data in a manner similar to how other third-party app developers have harvested personal information. —KBK, GMA News

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