DICT: Social media verification likely to remain voluntary

Verification of social media accounts will likely remain voluntary, despite the Department of Information and Communications Technology’s (DICT) plan to release a new policy measure to curb fake news next week.

In an interview on Super Radyo dzBB on Sunday, DICT Secretary Henry Aguda said the agency is working on a policy that would respect the freedom of expression and of speech.

“Parang mahirap na sabihin na lahat ng gagamit ng social media ay magbayad for verification service or kaya ba namin ipuwersa ang mga social media platform na ilibre ang paid service na 'yan. Tinanong namin sila pareho,” Aguda said.

(It’s difficult to mandate everyone using social media to pay for a verification service or order social media platforms to provide it for free, so we consulted with both parties.)

“Ang internet ay ginagamit din sa expression, freedom of speech, political talk. Ayaw din naman nating matanggal 'yun. It's a balancing act,” he added.

(The internet is used for practicing freedom of expression, freedom of speech, and political talk. We don’t want to remove that. It’s a balancing act.)

To combat fake news spreading online, Aguda said DICT would instead opt for public awareness.

“Malamang ang direksyon ng mga discussion, hindi namin i-o-obligate o ifo-force ang mga tao na mag-social media verification. Ang patungo niyan, parang public awareness,” Aguda said.

“Ang isa sa suggestion ng Policy and Standards (Bureau), baka pwedeng information campaign,” he added.

(The likely direction of the discussions is that people will not be obligated or forced to verify their social media accounts and instead focus on public awareness. One proposal from Policy and Standards [Bureau] is to conduct an information campaign.)

Earlier this month, DICT said it was working on a policy that would require all social media platforms in the country to have their users verified in a bid to strengthen regulation and accountability in cyberspace.

The DICT made the announcement amid the issues over the sexually explicit and non-consensual images generated by Grok, an AI chatbot developed by Elon Musk’s xAI. —KG, GMA Integrated News