Robredo pushes for sanctions vs. anonymous accounts peddling ‘fake news’

Anonymous social media accounts peddling falsehoods should be held accountable over their actions by sanctioning them under a law, Vice President Leni Robredo said Wednesday.

Robredo, a former Camarines Sur district representative, said that while journalists and even people of other profession can be charged criminally for libel, slander and related crimes by peddling lies, falsehood peddlers on social media under anonymous accounts should just be held accountable just as much.

“Ako, kailangan talaga iyong Kongreso magpasa ng mga batas na kahit paano may regulation iyong posts sa social media. Kailangan iyong mga social media networks gaya ng Facebook, ng Instagram, YouTube—kailangan magkaroon ng regulation. Kung anybody can post anonymously, ang daming nabibiktimang hindi naman deserve na siraan,” Robredo, a lawyer, said during the Kaya Natin Caravan on Good Governance held at University of Luzon, in Dagupan, Pangasinan.

“Iyong accountability na ine-expect from traditional media, dapat ganoon din sa social media. Kasi hindi fair na walang ganoong accountability; na kahit anong kasinungalingan, napo-post,” Robredo added.

Robredo has been at the receiving end of such viral posts she says are untrue, including one that claimed she went to the United States (US) because she got pregnant when she went to the US to visit her in-laws. Robredo has three daughters, Aika, Tricia and Jillian, with the late Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, and the her daughters are all grown up, with Aika and Tricia already earned their college degrees and Jillian studying college as a scholar in New York University in the United States.

Robredo said that one’s reputation besmirched by falsehood could be rectified, such damage takes a lot of time to undo.

“Hindi naman irreparable [ang damage]. Pero it would take time to make it known to people, kasi wala naman tayong infrastructure na kagaya noong mga naninira. Iyong mga naninira, iyong infrastructure in place, alam natin iyon. Talagang maraming pera iyong ibinubuhos para magsira ng mga tao. Kailangan iyong Kongreso, magpasa ng mga batas na mas nire-regulate na ito, kasi otherwise, pasama lang siya nang pasama,” Robredo said.

“Kasi at least kung may accountability, mayroong responsibility to post kung ano lang iyong mga totoo. Pero ito kasi, wala, eh,” Robredo added. — Llanesca T. Panti/RSJ, GMA News