Twelve senators are seeking a Senate probe on social media “troll farms,” describing them as “dangerous to democracy” and trolling considered as “lying and evil.”
In a statement Monday, Senator Francis Pangilinan cited reports that public funds “are oiling the operation of troll farms that spread fake news and misinformation on social media.”
Aside from Pangilinan, Senate President Vicente Sotto III, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, and Senators Nancy Binay, Leila de Lima, Richard Gordon, Risa Hontiveros, Panfilo Lacson, Emmanuel Pacquiao, Grace Poe and Joel Villanueva signed the proposed Senate Resolution 768.
It asks the appropriate Senate committee to conduct an inquiry on the alleged state-backed and state-funded spreaders of fake information that affect millions of Filipinos.
Earlier, Lacson alleged that “a government undersecretary has been organizing internet troll farms across the country to target political rivals or those not aligned with President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration.”
The senators said the allegation should not be dismissed because of the Filipinos’ heavy use of social media sites such as Facebook, making them vulnerable to the trolls’ fake information.
“Filipinos should know why government spends public funds on troll farm operators disguised as ‘public relations practitioners’ and ‘social media consultants’ who sow fake news rather than on COVID-19 assistance, health care, food security, jobs protection, education, among others,” the resolution read.
A social media troll is “someone who creates conflict on sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Reddit by posting messages that are particularly controversial or inflammatory with the sole intent of provoking an emotional response from other users,” the resolution said.
Meanwhile, the Commission on Election’s regulation of political ads in social media on those who officially become candidates upon filing of the Certificate of Candidacy is fair to everybody, said Sen. Panfilo Lacson.
He said this is fair especially those who have less campaign funds to use for campaign ads.
Lacson “definitely” considered the poll body’s decision a welcome development “since it won’t put the administration candidates at an advantage, as they are always presumed to have more than enough resources at their disposal.”
Sen. Imee Marcos said she was perplexed by Comelec’s assertion, although they do have broad rule- making powers covering campaign finance.
“While I am no election lawyer, my understanding is that totaling social media expenses immediately upon the October filing will be in violation of existing laws and jurisprudence,” she said.
Marcos noted that the campaign period is very well-defined, which is 90 days from day of election for national candidates and 45 days for local candidates.
She said the Supreme Court also decriminalized premature campaigning.
“To consider expenses of those who filed COC (certificates of candidacy) in October is to say that they are already candidates, which is not the intent of our laws and may have serious implications later on,” Marcos pointed out.
Sotto said the Comelec motion is a good move, as candidates with billions of campaign funds will be “straightjacketed.”
Pangilinan, who said he is the “most trolled” senator now, stressed that misinformation and fake news do harm to the country grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We must not let pass the use of taxpayers’ money to malign and harass people who are critical to the government,” said Pangilinan.
He considered this dangerous for democracy, especially that elections are upcoming next year.
Advertising firms We are Social and Hootsuite, in their 2020 annual report, found that Filipinos spend an average of four hours and 15 minutes each day on social media – topping the world rankings for the sixth straight year.
The Philippines is also highest in the world in internet usage with an average of 10 hours and 56 minutes online.
“Trolling is lying. It is evil, especially that we have an upcoming election. If people elect a president and other officials because of the fake information spread by paid trolls, then similarly we will have a fake president and fake officials,” Pangilinan said.
“Invest in real farms of vegetables and fruits, not troll farms,” he added.
The Department of Finance also earlier awarded a P909,122 communications strategy consultancy contract to a public relations practitioner who was tagged by Facebook itself as the “operator behind a pro-Duterte fake account network,” which the social media giant took down in March 2019.
