Will Philippines’ Marcos Jnr form social media regulatory board for ‘anti-government propaganda’ clampdown?

The Philippines’ Society of Social Media Broadcasters has requested the president to establish a “national social media regulatory board” through an executive order. The group also proposed that the board include representatives from the National Security Council, the Department of National Defence, and the Philippine National Police.

Such misinformation poses a “clear and present danger” to Filipinos, said Dr. Michael Raymond Aragon, head of the Society of Social Media Broadcasters.

Currently, the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board has the authority to suspend films and TV shows that incite “subversion, insurrection, rebellion, or sedition” and undermine public trust in the government. But this board does not extend to social media.

Dominic Ligot, a security specialist and executive director of Data Ethics PH, expressed doubt that such a regulatory board could crack down on social media posts because “no [Philippine] government agency has jurisdiction” over foreign social media platforms.

“Even if you created a social media regulatory board, to what extent can they police and punish?” Ligot said.

“They can only request certain content to be taken down.”

This law penalises the publication of false news that endangers public order or harms the state’s interests, with a maximum jail term of six months.

Ligot said Section 154 has been used to protect the state from dissent, pointing to its use under Duterte’s administration to detain journalists. Although those journalists were eventually released, the threat of Section 154 looms over other government critics.

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