16/05/2022
DILG PRESS RELEASE
PR Control No. 2022-04-28-01
April 28, 2022
------------------------------------------
Statement of the Department of the Interior and Local Government
Usec. Jonathan E. Malaya
DILG and NTF ELCAC Spokesperson
The Department of the Interior and Local Government welcomes the restoration of posts by Facebook after complaints were filed by different entities, including the National Task Force 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.
Given how critical and influential social media is in the country, 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.
Moreover, 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. 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 provides the following:
Art. 19. 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.
In order to remove doubt that there was injustice, bad faith or dishonesty, we urge 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.
