Hontiveros: Require social media to report how lies spread

Senator Risa Hontiveros exhorted the government to consider adopting the European Union's policy of requiring social media companies to submit reports on how disinformation spreads on their platforms and its impact on the country.

"It's about time the government pressures social media networks to be accountable. A people who are empowered to accept nothing short of the truth can starve fake news peddlers out of business," Hontiveros said.

The chairperson of the Senate women, children, family relations and gender equality committee issued the statement following a Pulse Asia survey showing that around 90% of Filipinos have read and/or watched fake political news while 86% believe false or fake news is a problem in the country.

The same poll also revealed that 58% of the respondents said social media influencers, bloggers, and/or vloggers are top peddlers of fake news about government and politics, followed by journalists at 40%, and national level politicians at 37%. 

Hontiveros said prioritizing legislation providing skills-based training and media literacy programs is needed to prevent rampant proliferation of fake news.

"We should legislate skills-based training and media literacy programs to help the public detect fake news and rebuild the habit of truth seeking. This should be backed by a strong partnership between national and local government, schools, NGOs and other training institutes," she said.

"Lumalaki ang mga anak natin sa isang lipunan ng kasinungalingan. Empowering the public to seek out credible avenues for verified information should be a top priority," she added.

She said the people expect the government "to lead the way by being uncompromising on the truth so that integrity becomes the norm again."

Senator Bong Go, in a separate interview, said freedom of speech is not tantamount to freedom to peddle fake news.

"It is a free country, it is democracy, respetuhin natin ang karapatan ng ating mga kababayan na ilahad ang saloobin nila, pero hindi po iyong pagpapakalat ng fake news," Go, chairperson of the Senate health and demography panel, said.

(We have to respect differing views, but not peddling of fake news.)

"Unfair naman po iyon sa mga gustong mamuhay ng tahimik, iyong gusto lang ng katotohanan. Dapat matuldukan ang mga nagpapakalat ng fake news dahil hindi ito nagdudulot ng kabutihan," he added.

(Allowing fake news to prosper is very unfair for people seeking a quiet life and the truth. Fake news peddlers must be stopped because nobody benefits from them.)—LDF, GMA News