Año to Facebook: Have ‘fair independent’ fact-checkers

INTERIOR Secretary Eduardo Año on Friday said social media company Facebook should have “independent and fair” fact checkers not critical to the Philippine government.

“Dapatmay fact checker natinatawag independent, fair at hindi na man kr i ti kong pa mahala an( We should have fact checker that are independent and fair and not critics of the government),” Año said in a chance interview.

Año claimed that the current fact checkers of Facebook were Rappler and VERA Files, which, according to him, were critical against the current administration.

“Gus to lang nam anna ti nm aging patas,balanseang Facebook kasi na pa gala man nat inn aang kanilang fact checker ayang VERA Files at Rap pl erna pare hon am an kr itiko( We just want Facebook to be fair and balanced because we just found out that their fact checkers are VERA Files and Rappler, which are both critics of the current government),” he explained.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government would attend a dialogue between the Department of Information and Communication Technology and Facebook executives next week, Año said.

The dialogue would clarify and help the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police explain their side related to the taking down of some accounts, Año added.

Año questioned the action of Facebook in taking down allegedly accounts linked to the military and police for violating its policy against “coordinated inauthentic behavior” or CIB.

A total of 57 Facebook accounts, 31 pages, and 20 Instagram accounts originating in the Philippines were removed without prior notice nor advice to the administrators of the accounts, the government official claimed.

Año raised the issue of freedom of speech in the “unilateral act of taking down” accounts by the social media giant.

Meanwhile, Año recognized the importance of Facebook in the lives of the Filipinos, as it helped in the communication between the overseas Filipino workers and their families.