Surigao del Norte 2nd district Rep. Robert Ace Barbers (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILABULLETIN)

Surigao del Norte 2nd district Rep. Robert Ace Barbers is mulling a new law that would require social media platforms to seek a franchise to operate in the Philippines from Congress

This was shared by Barbers to the House tri-committee (tri-comm), which carried out its second hearing on the online spread of fake news and disinformation on Tuesday, Feb. 18.

Barbers, who had been victimized by fake news peddlers, said the proposal would allow for the proper local regulation of the companies, among other things.

"We are contemplating on maybe perhaps asking all these social media platforms to secure a franchise in this Congress," he said.

"Because we want to make sure that it's not just the platforms that make money but also the Philippine government. That's one," noted Barbers.

"Number two, if you are under the franchise of this government then...you will be subject to the regulations and the rules imposed under this law," said Nacionalista Party (NP) stalwart.

During the hearing, the veteran congressman quizzed YouTube representative, lawyer Yves Gonzalez, on the financial aspect of social media.

Gonzalez told the three-way panel that the platform he works for pays taxes to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

"Just to clarify, the entities in the Philippines, Google Philippines, and other entities in the Philippines, they do not own or operate the YouTube platform," the lawyer said.

"And so that's why the taxes that we pay to the BIR are the ones only proper to the local entities. So not the advertising...The platform is not operated by the local entity," he said.

When asked if the platform earns profits from the advertisements that they carry, Gonzalez said, "Google LLC (YouTube parent company) does."

It was Barbers' privilege speech last Dec. 16, 2024--together with a resolution authored by Senior Deputy Speaker Pampanga 3rd district Rep. Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales Jr.--that prompted the tri-comm inquiry.

The Mindanaoan reiterated Tuesday that tri-comm's objective wasn't to suppress the freedom of expression or the freedom of speech.

“In fact we are all aware that this is provided for in our Constitution and we’d like to respect the right of every one to his own opinion or to his own expression. Contrary to what others may be thinking, this is not in any way a tool to suppress their expressions or opinions on certain issues, whether they may be political or economic or even other points of views,” he said.

Barbers said he and his colleagues want certain rules or best practices to govern the dissemination of information on social media.

“It’s just a way perhaps of adopting what are the best practices of other countries in relation to the employment or deployment of social media platforms,” he added.