MALACAÑANG is considering the mandatory registration of content creators as part of its efforts to combat the spread of fake news.
During the press conference on February 25, Tuesday, Palace Press Officer and Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary, Atty. Claire Castro, expressed support for the filed bill that seeks to penalize the spread of false information.
“Siguro naman kahit po hindi Palasyo ang tanungin natin, gugustuhin po talaga natin na ma-ban ang fake news,” she said.
She also suggested a possible registration for “all content creators” to demand accountability for the spreaders of misinformation and disinformation.
However, this undertaking would be tricky, considering that the lawmakers would have to define what constitutes fake news and what would count as one.
“We have to define first that there will be a law, if they will make such a law, they have to define what’s fake news and what’s the limitation, how they can gauge that those statements will be considered as fake news,” said Castro.
Senatorial candidate and former Senate President Vicente Sotto III, backed by Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas, stated earlier that if elected in 2025, he would prioritize filing a bill against fake news.
In a previous interview by republicasia to Assistant Professor Danilo Arao of University of the Philippines Diliman about fake news, he said that journalists are worried about the possibility of a fake news bill.
“In the Philippines, there is no law against fake news and we hope to make it that way,” said Arao.
He explained that it was because of how ‘fake news’ was defined in the bill.
“In 2017, I do remember there was a proposal for an anti-fake news law but just like the anti-terror law it had to be opposed because the definition of fake news is too broad that it could be anything even critical commentary will end up as fake news,” he said.
“So the irony there is once you pass an anti-fake news law instead of curbing fake news, which has become an industry, you’ll end up suppressing freedom of expression and you might end up compromising and censoring critical commentary because government would tend to brand as fake news peddlers those who are critical of their policies and programs.”
Castro emphasized the importance of candidates ensuring their qualifications for the positions they seek, warning that electing political “newbies” would only lead to a waste of time and public funds.
