Senator Ronald Dela Rosa wants an inquiry into the recent censorship of Facebook after the social media giant took down profiles and advocacy pages supporting the Philippine government and its efforts against terrorism.
He filed Senate Resolution 531 directing the appropriate Senate committee to conduct an inquiry on the censorship to ensure the protection and non-curtailment of the freedom of speech and expression in the country.
On Tuesday, President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration claimed that Facebook was imposing censorship in the Philippines after it took down several propaganda networks in support of Duterte and his allies.
Facebook last week removed pages, accounts, groups and Instagram profiles that were allegedly targeting the Philippines for “coordinated inauthentic behavior” or manipulation campaigns on the platform.
Calling the removed accounts as part of the government’s “advocacies,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the removal of the pages could be considered censorship because Facebook did not classify those as “fake news.”
Dela Rosa’s resolution was primarily referred to the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights.
Dela Rosa said in his resolution that “57 accounts, 31 pages and 20 Instagram profiles were taken down, which included content supportive of President Rodrigo Duterte; criticism of Rappler online news website; issues relevant to the overseas Filipino Workers; military activities against terrorism; anti-terrorism law; criticism of communism, youth activist and the opposition.”
Facebook also removed posts against the Communist Party of the Philippines and its military wing, the New People’s Army, and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.
“It was alleged by those who criticize the censorship made by the social network platform that some Facebook pages and profiles allegedly supporting and promoting the violent activities and ideologies of the communist-terrorist CPP-NPA were not included in the action taken by Facebook,” Dela Rosa said in his resolution.
He noted the removal of “Hands Off Our Children,” an advocacy page being run by a group of parents who are allegedly fighting to protect their children against violent extremism.
According to the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the advocacy page provides awareness on the vulnerability of children in the hands of communist-terrorist organizations such as the Communist Party of the Philippines – New People’s Army (CPP-NPA), a listed terrorist organization not only in the Philippines but also in the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
In August 2019, Dela Rosa, chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs, conducted hearings on the missing minors who were allegedly recruited by leftist groups to be their armed fighters.
“The censorship campaign against child recruitment of the communist terrorist group could hamper the efforts to prevent the spread of violent extremism in the country,” Dela Rosa said.
During his televised speech on Monday night, Duterte warned Facebook on the censorship, saying the social media giant was being allowed by the government to operate in the country with the hopes it would help push for the government’s advocacies.
Instead, pro-government groups had been taken down while pages criticizing the administration were allowed to stay on the social media platform.
Dela Rosa said the Philippines was Facebook’s second largest market in Asia, with 76 million users as of July 2020, and projected to reach 88 million by 2025.
On Sept. 23, Facebook head of security policy, Nathaniel Gleicher, announced they had removed two networks with coordinated inauthentic behavior, or using a myriad of fake accounts to operate.
Gleicher said most of the content in the fake accounts—which were managed by people affiliated with various police and military agencies—revolved around criticism of the opposition, activism and communism.