Jay Ruiz
Presidential Communications Office chief Jay Ruiz on Friday called on the passage of a similar to a European Union Digital Services Act, which will control the publication of disinformation online.
During the House panel hearing on the spread of fake news online, Ruiz stressed that social media platforms such as Meta and Youtube do not have a base in the Philippines, so it takes them time to respond to complaints and requests to take down harmful posts.
“So we have to focus on the platforms, first of all, to self-regulate, if you [social media platforms] want self-regulation. Or maybe come up with an operational system between the DICT(Department of Information and Communications Technology), and government to identify these fake posts, to identify fake information,” he said.
“What do we want on the PCO side? We urge Congress to join our digital crusade against combating fake news by strengthening our laws by introducing internationally accepted policies and standards for content moderation on social media. I respectfully encourage our lawmakers to consider the framework of the Digital Services Act,a recently adopted EU regulation which prevents illegal and harmful activities and disinformation online while still ensuring that the freedom of expression is upheld,” he added.
Ruiz said that aside from fake news, another dangerous form of posts online takes the form of deep fake content where the person’s face and voice can be placed on another person.
“There were several complaints raised with the PCO that said, ‘Sir, look at this, there are known personalities recruiting on scams, advertising scams.’ Because the voices of a well-known personality or a well-known businessman are being put on the line. Imagine if you put the head of the Commission on Elections chairman there which is [deep] fake too. It is a national security concern that we really have to fight,” he said.
“The fight against fake news should be prioritized. We said before, right, it was the fight against illegal drugs.But in this generation, the fight against fake news, deep fakes, they bring so many social media ills.Wenow live in two worlds: the cyber world and the real world. The children right now spend more time on the cyber world. And if you give them constant disinformation, if you give them constant lies and negative news, what will happen to the next generation of Filipinos?” he added.
Ruiz expressed his disappointment in the usage of technology and said that it should be used for good.
“We have to make make sure that online, the voice of truth should be louder than lies. It should always be louder than lies. They should always be louder than lies. Because now,a lie told a thousand times drowns out the truth,” he said.
“I urge everybody here, let’s get our acts together. We arenot the enemies. We should stand together. The enemy is fake news,” he added.