Bataan 1st District Rep. Geraldine Roman is pushing for state regulation over content creation so that obligations and duties can be established among stakeholders and content creators.
During the House Tri-Committee hearing on Tuesday, April 8, the lawmaker questioned the relationship between content creators, social media platforms, digital advertisers, and the government. She pointed out a huge void between the groups–stating the growing problem of fake news.
“To actually regulate the area of content creation is potentially and most probably unconstitutional. In my research, I have discovered that any kind of stake regulation over content creation should pass the strict scrutiny test that will actually be applied by the Supreme Court of any corresponding court, if the constitutionality of this state regulation is questioned,” she said.
From a pragmatic point of view, Roman highlighted that content creation is an expression of our fundamental right to free speech. Despite this, Roman mentioned that the government alone cannot regulate opinions and online content.
However, they can regulate social media platforms and empower users to act as gatekeepers through the establishment of a Digital Council in the Philippines.
What is it?
To give a brief overview, Roman said the digital council would have similar duties to the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP). Members of the said council would be formed among the associations and groups of content creators, digital advertisers, digital marketing firms, the global artificial intelligence council, and members of the academe.
“Because the idea was to make the digital council of the Philippines a medium by which we can educate the public, and particularly the youth, on the responsible use of social media and most importantly, critical thinking,” she said.
The council would also be comprised of representation from the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and the Philippine National Police (PNP).
“The idea is basically self-regulation. It has worked with the advertising world. When commercials are submitted to the scrutiny of the ad standards council to see [if] based on their own code of ethics and standards, if the commercials are fair and true,” Roman stated.
Self-regulating means that an organization is free to come up with its code of ethics and standards. They also have their redress system.
The Growing Problem of Fake News
According to the former Vice President and veteran broadcaster Noli De Castro, the seminars he attended all emphasized responsible journalism.
“During our seminars, way way back, ang iniinstill sa aming utak ay maging responsbile journalist. Responsbile on the air, that means ang sasabihin namin ay may batayan, may source, ay titindig yung mga balita,” he said.
Moreover, De Castro expressed his support for the council, citing that it can speed up analysis on what is authentic or fabricated online.
Surigao del Sur 2nd District Representative and the Committee Presiding Officer, Johnny Pimentel, clarified whether De Castro supports the idea of Congress proposing a bill to combat such practices, adding how it had affected the reputation of various personalities.
“Baka ho magandang pag-aralan yung kay congresswoman [Roman] na digital council of the Philippines. Para lahat ng [social media sites tulad ng] Facebook, YouTube, member ho dito. Para kung meron hong reklamo tungkol sa mga post na hindi maganda o hindi totoo, ay maipapasok kaagad dito sa Digital Council of the Philippines,” De Castro said in response.
“Minsan pag may batas napapalusutan pa ho, umaabot hanggang sa Supreme Court. Baka dito, baka makatulong na pag-aralan natin mabuti ang Digital Council of the Philippines. Baka mas may ngipin ito para mapigilan ang pag-kalat ng fake news,” he added.
Pimental assured that they had already drafted the proposed legislation on the matter.
“It is appalling. Appalling is an understatement in fact, nakakainis na po talaga. It is really annoying. Especially ngayon, maraming political developments, it’s election time, iba ibang paninira,” Roman expressed.
“This is the hope of this humble representation that we can come up with [a] regulation that will effectively control the spread of fake news, while respecting our basic constitutional right to freedom of speech,” she said in closing.
