A thorough discussion on foreign interference and the commercialization of vloggers for the House Tri-Committee's succeeding hearings is being pushed by a lawmaker.
In a press conference on Monday, February 17, 1-RIDER Party-list Rep. Ramon Rodrigo "Rodge" Gutierrez and Lanao del Sur 1st District Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong discussed the significance of the invited social media influencers and vloggers’ attendance in the House Tri-Comm’s investigation.
A show-cause order was previously issued to the guests who failed to attend the hearing. However, if these personalities would be absent in the upcoming hearing, Gutierrez said there would be other remedies later on; like a subpoena.
Despite this, the lawmaker stated that it is important that the vloggers and social media influencers attend so that they can discuss the propagation and the spread of fake news online. Gutierrez said that relying on tactics like the spread of fake news is of no benefit to anyone.
Foreign Interference
The lawmaker clarified, that the goal of their invitation to vloggers and other personalities, is to discuss the subject matter, especially now that they're touching on the surface of foreign interference.
According to Gutierrez, a resource person highlighted the link between misinformation and the alleged Chinese-owned accounts and backing.
“Nabanggit po ito of one of the resource persons. I think it was Press One, na there was a link between misinformation and allegedly Chinese-owned accounts [and] Chinese backing. There is allegedly a link between Chinese backing of the misinformation in the West Philippine Sea and political campaigns for certain individuals in the country,” he said.
Commercialization of Vloggers
On another note, Gutierrez mentioned another issue that needs a thorough discussion: the commercialization of vloggers. Although the lawmaker acknowledges that one’s freedom of speech is a right, selling one’s opinion to the highest bidder is a different discussion.
“If you are selling your opinion to the highest bidder, and if that highest bidder is a foreign entity, I think there should be some limitations. There should be some punitive actions po in relation to that. And I think that’s why especially important yung Tri-Comm,” he said.
Moreover, the solon highlighted how people are now used to seeing fake news online. However, Gutierrez cautioned that people need to be accountable for their words.
“Yung problem with previous and past years, [is] masyadong nasanay po yung tao sa fake news. Nasanay na po tayo sa hyperbole, nasanay na tayo sa pagbibiro na we can’t take anything seriously anymore,” Gutierrez said.
“We have to be accountable for our words. I think ‘yun lang po yung bottom line ng Tri-Comm,” he continued.
