Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers on Tuesday said the House of Representatives Tri Committee inquiry on the dissemination of fake news and malicious content on social media platforms is not intended to suppress the freedom of expression or speech.
Barbers, whose privilege speech together with a resolution authored by Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales Jr., prompted the inquiry, made clear the purpose of the probe at the start of the Tri Comm’s second hearing on Tuesday morning.
“I just would like to reiterate that the objective of the hearings the Tricom is conducting is not to suppress the freedom of expression or the freedom of speech,” Barbers told the three-committee panel, which was temporarily presided over by Antipolo City Rep. Romeo Acop on behalf of Tri Comm overall chairman and Santa Rosa Rep. Dan Fernandez.
“In fact, we are all aware that this is provided for in our Constitution and we’d like to respect the right of everyone to his own opinion or to his own expression. Contrary to what others may be thinking, this is not in any way a tool to suppress their expressions or opinions on certain issues, whether they may be political or economic or even other points of view,” he added.
The Quad Comm lead chairperson said he and his colleagues want certain rules or best practices to govern the dissemination of information on social media
“It’s just a way perhaps of adopting what are the best practices of other countries in relation to the employment or deployment of social media platforms,” Barbers said.
“Our take being members of the 19th Congress is to establish a set of rules, conscious of course of the constitutional right to freedom of expression. What I only have is a policy or framework in which social media platforms cannot be used for spreading fake news or espousing disinformation, misinformation, or malinformation,” he added in a mix of English and Filipino.