Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Henry Aguda in an undated photo. Aguda on Monday (May 12, 2025) lauded Meta — the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and Threads — for its quick take down of election-related disinformation to within an hour, and called for its continued vigilance against disinformation even after the May 12 polls. (Photo courtesy of DICT)
The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) on Monday praised Meta — the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and Threads — for significantly speeding up the removal of election-related disinformation, reducing response time to under an hour.
DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy applauded Meta’s responsiveness and urged the tech giant to maintain this level of vigilance beyond the May 12 elections.
“This urgency must continue beyond the elections,” said Uy. “The DICT, along with the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC), will continue to monitor Meta’s actions and expects the same proactive stance against all forms of harmful and misleading content.”
Uy emphasized that the initiative supports President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s directive to strengthen the country’s cybersecurity and digital safety.
He also encouraged other social media platforms to align with the President’s vision of a “digital bayanihan” — a collaborative effort to eliminate malicious and harmful content online in cooperation with the government.
“Disinformation is a persistent threat. We call on Meta and all platforms to join our digital bayanihan and help safeguard the integrity of our digital spaces — so the internet remains a place for positivity,” Uy said.
In a related move, the inter-agency task force “KKK sa Halalan” — standing for Katotohanan, Katapatan, Katarungan (Truth, Integrity, Justice) — launched a threat monitoring center last Friday to combat online election disinformation and other digital violations.
The center, based at the CICC headquarters in Diliman, Quezon City, brings together analysts from various government agencies to track, investigate, and recommend the takedown of disinformation circulating on digital platforms.