Social media giants Facebook and Twitter should require their users to include their real names on their accounts so they will be more responsible and refrain from posting fake and malicious news, as well as in attacking groups and personalities on the platform, retired former Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said on Wednesday, July 28.
Carpio, a lead convenor of opposition coalition 1Sambayan, noted the reason why trolls are confident to attack people, politicians, and the opposition on social media is because they hide behind fictitious names.
“When you use fictitious names, you don’t feel any responsibility. You attack, attack and attack, you make libelous comments because you’re not responsible, you’re not to be held to account,” he said during a media forum following President Duterte’s State of the Nation Address on Monday, July 26.
“The solution is simple: require them to reveal their real names and they will be more responsible,” Carpio said.
He cited that most of these trolls come from the Fujian Province in China, where several Facebook accounts that back the President were linked to. These accounts were shut down in September last year.
“The solution is simple: if you can’t put your real name when you make a comment on an online publication, you should not be allowed. Because if you put your real name, you’ll be very circumspect. You will weigh every word you put there because you could be sued for libel. You could be laughed at if you are expressing something ridiculous,” Carpio said.
READ: Senators call for inquiry on alleged use of public funds for troll armies
Right now, he lamented that social media companies allow “fake or fictitious names” to comment on posts because “you can’t sue somebody with that name.”
“So, our discourse in online platforms has become so polluted, so vicious, so unreasonable already because online platforms allow anonymous, fictitious people to make comments without any responsibility,” Carpio said.
He, however, lauded media organizations for committing to a facts-based and credible coverage of the upcoming 2022 elections in the country.
Three dozen media groups and more than 300 media workers promised to follow the Election 2022 Pledge for Journalists and Media Organizations, which aims to focus on issues and not just personalities, examine the candidates’ track records, stand in solidarity with fellow journalists who are being subjected to state-sponsored harassment, and put voters at the center of the election coverage.
The media workers also pledged to challenge false claims by public personalities, as well as avoid hate speech and fake news.
Carpio’s call came after he said that 1Sambayan’s nominees cannot yet announce their candidacies because they fear Duterte’s trolls.
READ: 1Sambayan nominees for 2022 still ‘fluid’ because they are ‘afraid’ of trolls — Carpio
Asked how the coalition’s candidates can defend the Philippines’ rights in the West Philippine Sea, a contentious issue among social media users in the Philippines, when they’re afraid of getting trolled, Carpio came to their defense and said these are two completely different issues.
“They are not taking the side of China or the side of President Duterte. There is a difference between the West Philippine Sea and being attacked by trolls and announcing your candidacy and being attacked by trolls,” he said.