Solon to probe Facebook execs on spread of fake news
Published Jul 23, 2018 10:50 am
By Charissa Luci-Atienza
Lawmakers have filed a resolution calling on Facebook Inc. to answer questions regarding the proliferation of fake news in the social media site.
Facebook (AP/MANILA BULLETIN)
AKO BICOL partylist Rep. Rodel Batocabe, president of the House partylist coalition bloc, led the filing of House Resolution 1904, citing the need for the Facebook developers and executives to explain the spread of fake news in its platform.
“To craft policies to help prevent the spread of "fake news" in Facebook will require us to have a deeper understanding of the social media platform and its technology practices such that we need to hear them directly from the developers or executives of the social media platform itself,” he said.
He noted that there is a huge increase in social media use among Filipinos with an estimated 67 million Facebook accounts in the Philippines, as of December 2017.
“The ideal purpose of social media sites, such as Facebook, of connecting people and building an online community has recently been tainted with the rise of “fake news”,” the House leader said.
Joining Batocabe in filing the resolution were AKO BICOL partylist Reps. Alfredo Garbin Jr. and Christopher Co.
The AKO BICOL lawmakers noted the problems posed by the rampant spread of “fake news” has become serious that countries like the United States and Singapore has launched investigations on the flaws in Facebook.
“The free market of idea necessary for a healthy democracy is undermined by the tendency of Facebook posts to be viral or trending regardless of their veracity if the post is shared or re-posted numerous times,” they said.
"Filipinos are spending more and more time online, with an average of around 9.5 hours spent each day in the internet and around four hours of this is spent using social media platforms, foremost of which is Facebook,” the AKO BICOL lawmakers said.
“We as legislators have the power to formulate policies in order to curb the spread and abate the ill-effects of "fake news" so as to maintain healthy exchange of ideas in social media pursuant to its intended purpose of connecting people,” they said.
In the Philippines, Facebook recently partnered with third-party fact-checkers, particularly Rappler and Vera Files to prevent the spread of fake news in the social media platform.
Facebook (AP/MANILA BULLETIN)
AKO BICOL partylist Rep. Rodel Batocabe, president of the House partylist coalition bloc, led the filing of House Resolution 1904, citing the need for the Facebook developers and executives to explain the spread of fake news in its platform.
“To craft policies to help prevent the spread of "fake news" in Facebook will require us to have a deeper understanding of the social media platform and its technology practices such that we need to hear them directly from the developers or executives of the social media platform itself,” he said.
He noted that there is a huge increase in social media use among Filipinos with an estimated 67 million Facebook accounts in the Philippines, as of December 2017.
“The ideal purpose of social media sites, such as Facebook, of connecting people and building an online community has recently been tainted with the rise of “fake news”,” the House leader said.
Joining Batocabe in filing the resolution were AKO BICOL partylist Reps. Alfredo Garbin Jr. and Christopher Co.
The AKO BICOL lawmakers noted the problems posed by the rampant spread of “fake news” has become serious that countries like the United States and Singapore has launched investigations on the flaws in Facebook.
“The free market of idea necessary for a healthy democracy is undermined by the tendency of Facebook posts to be viral or trending regardless of their veracity if the post is shared or re-posted numerous times,” they said.
"Filipinos are spending more and more time online, with an average of around 9.5 hours spent each day in the internet and around four hours of this is spent using social media platforms, foremost of which is Facebook,” the AKO BICOL lawmakers said.
“We as legislators have the power to formulate policies in order to curb the spread and abate the ill-effects of "fake news" so as to maintain healthy exchange of ideas in social media pursuant to its intended purpose of connecting people,” they said.
In the Philippines, Facebook recently partnered with third-party fact-checkers, particularly Rappler and Vera Files to prevent the spread of fake news in the social media platform.