Palace says Meta cooperative, no Facebook ban for now

National

NO Facebook ban for now, the Palace said, pointing to Meta’s cooperation with government efforts to remove false and violent content.

Palace press officer Claire Castro said the administration is instead pushing for clearer rules requiring social media platforms to act more quickly against content that spreads disinformation or promotes violence.

Castro said Facebook has been responsive to government requests to take down “fake news,” adding that the platform has not been difficult for authorities to deal with.

“Facebook is not difficult to deal with and it doesn’t mean that if other social media platforms are not responsive, all of them would be banned. That is not what the President and our administration wants,” she said in a Philstar report.

The Palace had earlier said the administration was open to banning Facebook and gaming applications amid concerns over disinformation and a rise in deadly school violence.

The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center proposed a Facebook ban days after a shooting at the Ateneo de Zamboanga that left two people dead.

Castro said the government’s openness to a ban should also serve as a warning to other platforms, particularly gaming applications, over concerns that some content may affect young users and contribute to violence.

She stressed, however, that based on the government’s latest information, Facebook is not currently presenting the same problems because of its responsiveness to authorities.

Castro urged other social media platforms to cooperate with the government in curbing false information and violent content, saying the administration wants them to respond promptly to requests for the removal of such posts.

Information and Communications Technology Secretary Henry Aguda is also set to travel to Singapore to meet with regional executives of Meta, where they are expected to discuss ways to speed up the removal of violent and false posts.(MyTVCebu)