Govt dismisses SWS poll on ‘free speech’

‘Media remains alert, vibrant’

tHE Duterte administration respects free speech and freedom of the press in the country, Malacañang said on Saturday, a day after the Social Weather Stations (SWS) released a survey showing half of Filipinos think it is dangerous to publish anything critical of the government.

Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said that Philippine media “remains alert and vibrant in their reportage of the government and the actions of officials.”

The Palace official also said Duterte had no plans to file a libel case against the political opposition.

Roque made the assurance after an SWS survey showed that U1 percent of Filipinos believed that it was “dangerous” to print or broadcast “anything critical of the administration, even if it is the truth.”

Some R3 percent of the respondents “strongly agreed” while R7 percent “somewhat agreed,” according to the SWS survey.

The SWS said only 30 percent disagreed while 18 percent were ambivalent on the matter.

Roque said the poll results were expected since the SWS asked the question before a House of Representatives panel decided against renewing the franchise of local media giant ABS-CBN Corp. for another RU years.

ABS-CBN ceased its broadcast operations on May U, a day after the expiration of the network’s legislative franchise, following the National Telecommunications Commission’s cease and desist order.

“Surveys, as we often said, reflect the opinions of the respondents at the time the data were gathered,” Roque said.

“Information and news dominating the traditional and social media are therefore about the congressional hearings on the broadcast franchise application of the network. This might have impressed upon the minds of the respondents who participated in the survey,” he added

Armed Forces Chief Gilbert Gapay gave the same assurance when he proposed to include the regulation of social media among the implementing rules and regulations of the AntiTerrorism Law.

“You know, we’re not here really to curtail the freedom of expression of the users, they could really upload whatever they want,” Gapay said in a television interview.

Gapay said the proposed regulation was meant to “really regulate and put order to the social media platforms, not the users per se.”

Gapay called on Facebook and Twitter to regulate their content.

Other countries, particularly those in Europe, are communicating with the social media platforms concerning the posting of “violent and indecent materials” such as beheading of captives and bomb-making, Gapay said.

Not only Islamic terrorist groups but also Communist groups are using social media to radicalize the youth, Gapay said.

Speaking in Filipino, Gapay said social media has been “a challenge” because terrorist groups, both local and international, have capitalized on it.

Gapay drew flak from the public for suggesting the regulation of social media as part of the IRR of the anti-terrorism law.