Facebook Thursday announced the launch its third-party fact-checking program in the Philippines with VERA Files and Rappler.
(Disclosure: I’m a trustee and writer of VERA Files, a group that takes a a deeper look into current Philippine issues.)
As the Facebook announcement stated, the third-party fact-checking program is aimed at helping combat false news from spreading on Facebook.
“These partners have been certified through a non-partisan International Fact-Checking Network and will review news stories on Facebook, check their facts, and rate their accuracy.
Pres. Duterte rants about Rappler while Pia Ranada asks questions in a press conference. Video grab from RTVM.
Of the many things that Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said to justify the banning of Rappler and its reporter Pia Ranada in Malacañang premises, one thing stood out that reflected President Duterte ’s misunderstanding of the role of media in a democracy.
Roque said: “Nag-isyu na ang Presidente ng order na hindi pupuwede si Pia [sa Malacañang] (The President has issued the order that Pia is not allowed in Malacanang.),”
The transgender influencer went by the name Georgina, 28 and a digital marketer with a computer engineering degree from one of the leading national universities.
Despite Malacañang’s denial, there is no doubt that the decision of the Securities and Exchange Commission to revoke Rappler’s registration as a media entity is a press freedom issue.
The SEC arguments seem solid for a non-lawyer like me but I wonder, had Rappler been supportive of Duterte, would the Office of the Solicitor General have filed a case questioning the ownership of Rappler?
On the other hand, even if Duterte hated Rappler, if SEC didn’t find anything amiss in their corporate makeup, would it have moved for the kill?
Journalist turned lawyer Romel R. Bagares posted this comment on Facebook which generated an informative discussion among his fellow lawyers, many of them advocates of free expression and are active in fighting the proliferation of fake news.
At Malaya’s Christmas party last Dec. 14, Sir Jake’s eyes lighted up while telling me that the Batuan fruit tree that I gave him many years ago that he planted in his farm in Lipa has been bearing fruit nonstop.
He complained, however, that he can’t seem to grow seedlings from the fruits and asked me to bring him another seedling.
I got him one when I went home to Antique for the holidays and was supposed to give it to him next week when I go to Malaya’s office.
Yesterday, I was shocked to learn that he has passed away. Malaya Publisher Jake P. Macasaet
David Kaye, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, in his video message to participants of the conference on Fake News and Freedom of Expression organized by Advocates for Freedom of Expression Coalition-Southeast Asia in Makati recently called on government officials to avoid spreading fake news.
That was one of the eight points he highlighted in a series of principles in fighting what he called the “the scourge of disinformation.”
“State actors should avoid disseminating and spreading fake news,” he said and referred to the Joint Declaration on Freedom of Expression and “Fake News,” issued by him, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe , Representative on Freedom of the Media, the Organization of American States (OAS) Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information, which states: “State actors should not make, sponsor, encourage or further disseminate statements which they know or reasonably should know to be false (disinformation) or which demonstrate a reckless disregard for verifiable information (propaganda).”
Southeast Asian lawyers tackle Freedom of Expression and Fake News. Photo from Ade Wahyudin Facebook.
The concern about Fake news has created another concern: in the urgent desire to solve the problem of fake news, we might end up with a cure that is worse than the disease.
Fake News has been blamed for political upsets like the decision of the United Kingdom to leave the European Union and the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States.
In the Philippines, the Duterte government maintains an aggressive presence in social media through its Duterte Diehard Supporters led by a communications undersecretary.
Collins Dictionary, which has chosen Fake News as the word for the year 2017, defines Fake News as “as false news stories, often of a sensational nature, created to be widely shared online for the purpose of generating ad revenue via web traffic or discrediting a public figure, political movement, company, etc.”
Last Friday, the Advocates for Freedom of Expression Coalition- Southeast Asia (AFEC-SEA), Center Law and American Bar Association- Rule of Law Initiative gathered lawyers, journalists and online activists from Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines ,Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam to discuss the situation as regards the rise of Fake News with the objective of forging a Southeast-Asian Response.
Newly-appointed Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. entertains queries from members of the media following his first press briefing in Malacañang on November 2. Malacañang photo by Ace Morandante.
It has not been a week since lawyer Harry Roque started speaking for President Duterte and he has effectively taken the heat off the President.
The last meeting of the President with media was upon his arrival from Japan last Oct. 31 where he was asked about his reaction to the statement of imprisoned senator Leila de Lima about not touching his son, Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte, and son-in-law Manases Carpio, whose names were mentioned in the Senate investigation of the 604 kilos of shabu that slipped through the Bureau of Customs during the watch of former Marines office Nicanor Faeldon.
Duterte was as usual defensive:” Who would believe me if I investigate my son and my son-in-law? Ikaw, can you investigate your mother or father? I leave it to the independent agencies — there’s the Human Rights, which is making all the noise, and they have the NBI.
Roque captioned this Oct. 2016 photo: “Digong in introducing me:’Si Harry Roque is critical but I like him. He’s hard-hitting and very straight. We need more like him to deal with our problems. He’s a welcome guest to my entourage. He should continue hitting para hindi magkaleche-leche an gating bayan.’”
President Duterte last Sunday at the Masskara Festival in Bacolod City endorsed Kabayan Partylist Representative Harry Roque for senator in the 2019 senatorial elections.
At the start of his speech, he introduced Roque to the Negrenses by asking him to stand up: “ ‘Ti nga kandidato ko ni pagka-Senador, kadtong ngari ko ga…subong ga kampanya na. Wa pa ko nakalimot kay Harry, ha. Ano lang ‘yan. (He’s my candidate for senator. My coming is to… now I’m campaigning. I have not forgotten Harry.)
At that moment, I was texting Harry to verify talks going around that he would be replacing Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella. ( We tried to contact Secretary Abella to confirm this but didn’t get a reply.)
Former Solicitor General Florin Hilbay at the hearing of the Senate Committee on Public Information and Mass Media.
I came out of the hearing by the Committee on Public Information and Mass Media on Fake News chaired by Sen. Grace Poe Wednesday stunned by the arrogance of persons hired by the government to handle social media.
The hearing could have been moderate3d much better but the best thing from that proceedings was the statement by former Solicitor General Florin Hilbay calling our attention to another form of impunity that we are witnessing aside from the thousands of killings on our streets – the death of truth.
Hilbay narrowed down on the real problem of the toxic environment: government dishonesty. He proposed the creation by Congress of the Institute for the Integrity of Information, “a sort of Ombudsman for public information provided by government, or an information police for government officials. “
