Duterte spokesman tags Facebook for censorship after takedown of pro-gov't pages

Malacañang on Tuesday accused Facebook of censorship days after it took down pages with connections to the police, military and supporters of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Duterte's spokesperson Harry Roque said Facebook had only targeted accounts that carried pro-government messages.

“We are not conceding that these are fake accounts. We do not know what basis Facebook had in classifying them as fake accounts," Roque said.

"All we know is that the effect is that it is suppressing pro-government pages, which should not be. [The] Philippine government submits it’s a form of censorship," he added.

Duterte encouraged the people behind the removed Facebook pages “to bring this to court because the entire planet is waiting for jurisprudence in this regard.”

Duterte on Monday night took issue with Facebook's recent move to take down pages and accounts associated with the military and police for "coordinated inauthentic behavior" supposedly to mislead people.

He also questioned whether Facebook should continue operating in the Philippines “if [the] government cannot espouse or advocate something which is for the good of the people” such as fighting the communist insurgency.

Roque later downplayed concerns that Duterte might ban Facebook in the Philippines, saying the President preferred a dialogue between the government and the company over the issue.

“Malinaw po ang Presidente, kinakailangan pag-usapan ito at hindi po kinukunsinti ni Presidente ang censorship ng mga pro-government advocacies,” Roque said. -NB, GMA News