Meta backs House tri-comm proposal to regulate fake news on social media

April 8, 2025 , 04:06 PM

(April 8, 2025) – Tech giant Meta has expressed its support for the efforts of the tri-committee of the House of Representatives to form a regulatory committee to combat fake news in the Philippines.

During a hearing on Tuesday, La Union Rep. Paolo Ortega asked Meta whether it would be open to collaborating with lawmakers in crafting regulations to address misinformation and disinformation on social media.

The House tri-committee is investigating the spread of fake news and disinformation in the country, particularly on digital platforms.

“I’d be more than happy for Meta as a company to engage with the Philippine government and Congress on any type of regulations that you are considering when it comes to these issues,” said Meta’s director for public policy for Southeast Asia Rafael Frankel.

He said Meta has worked with other governments in Southeast Asia and beyond to develop rules that aim to protect users while also upholding freedom of expression.

He also pointed out that Meta employs Filipino content moderators and partners with three local third-party fact-checkers— Vera Files, Rappler, and Agence France-Presse (AFP)— to flag and verify false or misleading content.

“We prioritize the most harmful pieces of content first. For example if we see that there are reports of child exploitative imagery that’s gonna jump all the way to the top of the queue. If we see reports of terrorism content, incitement of violence, those type of things,” added Frankel.

In 2019, Meta removed around 200 pages, groups, and accounts from the Philippines that were found to be engaging in coordinated inauthentic behavior—essentially manipulating the platform by pretending to be someone else or misleading users.

Frankel praised the country’s fact-checking efforts, calling the Philippines’ ecosystem “one of the most robust in the world.”

This year, however, Meta drew criticisms from journalists, activists, and analysts after it ended its third-party fact-checking program in the Philippines and other countries.

Announced last January, the move replaces professional fact-checkers with a user-led system called “Community Notes,” which Meta says will support free expression and cut down on moderation mistakes.

(AAD)

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