The Commission on Elections on Thursday said it would henceforth scrutinize candidates’ spending on social media promotions.
“We cannot discuss AI and deepfakes without talking about social media. The Comelec regulates spending on radio, TV, and newspapers, but it remains unclear about social media,” Comelec chairperson George Garcia said.
“What about the paid social media influencers? How do candidates incur expenses on social media? We should know how much their expenses are and if they are breaching the allowable expenses,” he added.
Garcia admitted there are ambiguities in Republic Act 9006 or the Fair Election Act on the matter of online regulation.
The Commission earlier sought for more powers in regulating candidates’ social media posts to avoid the spread of disinformation through AI-generated and deepfake online posts.
Garcia said the Comelec targets to issue in August guidelines for the use of AI in the 2025 midterm elections, based on insights that would be gleaned from an upcoming stakeholders’ forum and consultation dialogue.
“I don’t want to preempt the outcome of the forum, but whatever it is, the Comelec will push through with our guidelines,” he said.
Meanwhile, South Korea firm Miru Systems condemned allegations that it bribed Comelec officials to win the P17.99 billion contract for the 2025 national and local automated elections.
Miru’s reaction was spurred by a supposed exposé by Sagip party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta, wherein it was claimed that an unnamed Comelec official allegedly received the equivalent of P1 billion from the South Korean company.
“This baseless and careless accusation not only maligns our reputation, it also detracts us from all the work that needs to be done with the Comelec for the 2025 National and Local Elections (NLE),” the management of Miru said in a statement.
“We will cooperate with any government agency that will conduct an investigation and may even consider pursuing legal action, if necessary. We support the Comelec’s call for redress in the proper forum,” it added.
The company said it maintains a professional relationship with the Comelec, and will cooperate with any investigation.
“We have had nothing but a professional relationship with everyone in the Comelec, including the highly respectable Chairman George Garcia. Over the past year, we have worked to dutifully meet all requirements of the Terms of Reference, which have been crafted specifically for the needs of the Filipino people,” Miru said.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline: “Comelec renews bid to regulate social media campaign expenses of poll candidates”
