Lawmakers mulling social media platform accreditation
Metro Manila, Philippines - Lawmakers are mulling an accreditation system for social media platforms to easily address concerns, Antipolo Rep. Romeo Acop said on Tuesday, April 8.
During the fourth tri-committee hearing on disinformation, Meta – a global technology conglomerate operating social media platforms including Facebook and Instagram – said it does not have an entity in the Philippines to moderate content.
Acop said a local entity is crucial.
“We are exploring the idea of requiring accreditation or registration for social media platforms operating in this country to ensure there is a readily accessible, responsible point of contact that understands and complies with our laws,” he said.
The lawmaker asked Meta whether misinformation should be tolerated.
Rafael Frankel, Meta director for public policy in Southeast Asia, was not categorical in his response.
“We’re in a world right now where people disagree on what’s true or what’s not true,” he said. “The approach we have is based on remaining a neutral platform that tries our best in very difficult circumstances, in very robust democracies like the Philippines where there are very charged political debates going on.”
Meta explained that it moderates content through artificial intelligence, user reports, and human reviewers.
For moderation of misinformation in particular, Frankel said Meta takes down posts that may cause physical violence.
Appearance of contents that do not pose offline violence, meanwhile, are minimized.
Meta also shows a label to the user if it perceives misinformation.
“There are topics that are much more difficult and much more nuanced and very contextual and misinformation tends to be – not always – more on that second bucket of more difficult types of content to moderate,” Frankel said.
Cited in contempt
By the end of the hearing, the tri-committee cited in contempt social media personalities Lorraine Badoy, Sass Sasot, and Jeffrey Celis for refusal to answer summons without excuse.
It also issued a detention order for social media personality Mark Lopez for undue interference during proceedings after he posted a statement “attacking” the House investigation.
They will be detained at the House of Representatives until the panel completes its investigation except for Lopez who will stay there for 10 days.