The Department of Justice (DOJ) has started evaluating existing laws to determine what amendments are needed to be tougher against fake news.
“We are looking at the cyberliber laws and other cyber laws,” DOJ Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla told journalists on Monday, March 3.
“If there is a need to amend the laws, we would recommend to amend,” Remulla declared.
The DOJ started the study and evaluation of existing cyber laws after newly installed Communications Secretary Jay Ruiz sought for the regulation of content published on social media where misinformation has flourished and threatens national security.
“That is a concern we also have with the DOJ,” said Remulla.
“Fake news is something that should not be tolerated because it is actually a great disservice to the country, making people believe what are false, and I think that is a sin against our country,” he pointed out.
Ruiz had earlier said his office is studying the possibility of having a regulatory body in charge of social media akin to the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) that already govern traditional media.
He lamented that the current state of social media is similar to the "Wild, Wild, West," where misinformation can spread freely without accountability.