Vice-presidential candidate and senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan has called for the public’s vigilance against increasing “dangerous” activities in social media as the May 2022 election nears.
“Alam natin na maraming accounts at pages sa social media ang nagpapakalat ng kasinungalingan. Alam nating sinisira nito ang tiwala natin sa isa’t isa na syang pundasyon ng isang demokrasya,” Pangilinan added.
Pangilinan issued the appeal as Facebook’s parent firm, Meta, took down hundreds of accounts and pages in the Philippines for engaging in various malicious and dangerous activities, thus, violating the social media site’s policies.
“We laud the move of Meta to continuously cleanse its platform of undesirables, but the number of accounts and pages weeded out could be just a drop in the bucket,” he said.
“There are millions of fake accounts out there and I am not sure how a few hundreds will make a dent in what experts have already described as massive disinformation being undertaken for election purposes favoring our opponents,” he added.
A public fed with untruths and inaccuracies is a threat to their decision-making and ultimately, to democracy, Pangilinan stressed.
“Napaka-kritikal nito ngayong papalapit na ang eleksyon, at lalong tumitindi ang pagpapakalat ng kasinungalingan. Mali na ang desisyon ng botante ay nakabase sa pambubudol o panlilinlang,” he added.
He urged the people to be very discerning about what they read and watch on social media, and always verify first before sharing.
Pangilinan said the public should support organizations that have initiated efforts to counter the wrong information and educate the public about social media use.
Pangilinan, as chair of the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes, has led hearings to conduct a review of the country’s existing criminal laws to consider the rise of social media platforms and the rapid advancement of technology.
“We must continue to fight the infodemic. Quality information is the foundation of a stable democracy. Katotohanan ang basehan ng demokrasya,” Pangilinan said.
