Amid the advent of new technology, the usage and spread of deepfakes and artificial intelligence (AI) continue to alarm Filipinos. During the House Tri-Committee’s fifth hearing on Thursday, June 5, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Secretary Jay Ruiz emphasized the need to enact proper laws to combat the spread of mis and disinformation.
To begin, Ruiz recalled when a memo from Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin was uploaded on social media. The former pointed out that the memo was fake and posed a great concern to national security when it spread online.
“Are we at the mercy of the platforms?”
They immediately informed the Department of Information Technology’s (DICT) Cybercrime Information and Coordinating Center (CICC) and asked Meta to take down the memo. However, the platform did not take it down.
“Are we at the mercy of the platforms? Bakit ganon, [nasa] PCO na ako. Sinasabi ko nang national security concern, I had my certification from the CICC ng DICT, and yet, ayaw pa rin magtanggal [ng post],” Ruiz questioned.
“[Sinabi nila] na dadaan pa rin daw ako ng third-party fact checker...eventually ilan beses namin sila kinakausap. Sinasabi namin na hindi kayo dito naka base, hindi pa kayo nagbabayad ng buwis; and yet, you don’t regulate of stop fake news here in the Philippines,” he added.
Ruiz said he learned that Singapore had been regulating misinformation and disinformation since 2019. He added that social media platforms abide by the country’s rules.
Moreover, the European Union (EU) has a landmark law called the Digital Services Act, which regulates and imposes penalties against social media platforms that spread fake news.
With this, Ruiz pointed out that the spread of false information continues to be a polarizing case in the Philippines—most especially with the absence of a law to impose penalties, and setting a clear definition of what fake news means in the country.
The Cyberworld
During the hearing, he also said that Filipinos’ worlds are currently divided into two: the real world and the cyberworld.
“Most of the people now, probably half of their spare time napupunta sa cyberworld. Ito na yung nakikita nila, so naiimpluwensiyahan yung utak ng tao. Papano kung ang tao, binebase niya ang decision niya sa fake news o kasinungalingan?” he questioned.
This change, as Ruiz mentioned, would result in people no longer making informed decisions.
“Pag pinapasok mo yang fake news sa iyong platform, dapat ‘yan may karapatang parusa sa gobyerno. Dahil nga ikaw nagpapasok eh, ginagamit nila yung platform mo to be a purveyor of fake news. Ina-allow mo siya,” Ruiz stated.
“Ang mas nakakatakot po ngayon, with the advent of new technology—we have deepfakes, we have artificial intelligence—ito pong paglabas ng fake news, mas mabilis pa sa wildfire ngayon ‘yan. It will reach hundreds or millions in just hours,” he added, suggesting that deepfakes and AI be included in the Congress’ legislation.
