THE DEPARTMENT of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Thursday welcomed Facebook's (FB) decision to restore deleted posts after complaints were filed by different entities, including the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), over the implementation of its community standards.
"While Meta has since restored the posts, serious questions remain on the social networking site’s impartiality and integrity in exercising censorship and fact-checking in its widely-used platform," DILG spokesperson Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said in a statement.
And given how critical and influential social media is in the country, Malaya noted it is incumbent upon Facebook to do better in promoting transparency, especially in determining what constitutes a violation of its community standards.
"It is imperative that they disclose a comprehensive brief on what metric is used in the algorithm that triggers automated blocking, warning or flagging. For example, what is the nature of the 'technical irregularity' that supposedly/allegedly triggered the blocking of accounts and posts? It is highly suspect that there was human intervention in this matter, unless the 'technical irregularity' is satisfactorily explained," he said.
He said questions remain on what safeguards Facebook has implemented to prevent its technology from being used for reprehensible purposes and what resources they have allocated to its Philippine operations to promote safety in its platform.
He said the public also deserves to know who and what is done by these “independent” fact checkers and how they influence the algorithms that control the system.
"We are well aware that Facebook/Meta is a private entity and may posit that it can do whatever it wants but not in this jurisdiction, because our Civil Code (Art. 19) provides that every person must, in the exercise of his rights and in the performance of his duties, act with justice, give everyone his due, and observe honesty and good faith," Malaya said.
To remove doubt that there was injustice, bad faith or dishonesty, Malaya said they are urging Facebook to be transparent and work with stakeholders in the Philippines in improving its service to its Filipino customers.
"The explanation so far provided is vague and does not disclose what steps are currently being undertaken to ensure that it doesn’t happen again," he added.
Earlier, Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said they are standing behind NTF-ELCAC vice chair, National Security Adviser, Hermogenes Esperon, in airing the concerns of the Filipino people against the threat of the armed communist insurgency.
"As a major social media platform, Facebook should seriously consider improving its mechanisms to promote the truth instead of curtailing the government's efforts to spread awareness and inform the public of issues of national interest," he said.
Esperon called out Facebook for flagging his post on April 14 due to alleged violations.
In his post, Esperon called on Filipinos to unite against the communist insurgency and all groups that support the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), but the post was restricted by Facebook.
The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
The Anti-Terrorism Council also formally designated the NDF as a terrorist organization on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and separate part” of the CPP-NPA that was created in April 1973. (Christopher Lloyd Caliwan)
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