Malacañang blasted Facebook for taking down “pro-government” pages and accounts while supposedly sparing pages of government critics.

“Huwag  pong supilin ang kalayaan ng pananalita ng mga personalidad o mga pages na pabor po sa gobyerno. Kasi ang nangyayari po, kapag laban sa gobyerno, hindi po tinatanggal ng Facebook. Kapag sumusuporta sa gobyerno, naitatanggal po,” Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said on Tuesday, September 29.

(Do not suppress the freedom of speech of personalities and pages in favor of the government. Because what is happening is, when they’re against the government, Facebook doesn’t take them down. When they’re supportive, they are taken down.)

However, Facebook had previously suspended accounts of several personalities critical of the government, including activist and comedian Mae Paner and blogger Jover Laurio. In 2016, it also took down a post of journalist Inday Espina Varona.

The latest Facebook takedown involved a network of pages and accounts that exhibited “coordinated inauthentic behavior” and were found to have links with the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police.

The social media platform said the network was stopped, not due to content, but because of how it made use of fake accounts to spread fake news and potentially dangerous messaging.

But Roque said there was no proof that fake accounts were involved.

“In the first place, we do not know if it’s fake accounts. We do not have access [to information] for Facebook making that conclusion,” he said.

Yet he was dismissive of proposals to look into Facebook’s findings.

“I don’t think there’s any law violated by an individual exercising his freedom of speech against known enemies of the government…. Unless there’s a complainant, how do we investigate?” said the Duterte spokesman.

Despite the Duterte administration’s avowed commitment to respect free speech, it has used the cybercrime law to crack down on people who use social media to air grievances against the government.

Duterte himself has threatened the press and paved the way for legal cases and attacks against Rappler and the shutdown of broadcasting network ABS-CBN.

Denies government links of Hands Off Our Children page

Roque also denied the government “maintained” the Facebook page Hands Off Our Children (HOOC), which was among those taken down.

“Hindi po ‘yan minementena ng gobyerno pero ‘yan po ay tumutulong sa adbokasiya ng gobyerno na isulong ‘yung obligation natin sang ayon po sa Geneva Convention,” said Roque, referring to international treaties against the recruitment of children for armed conflict.

(That is not maintained by the government but it helps in the advocacy of government to push for our obligations under the Geneva Convention.)

Duterte, he said, was “very senstitive” about the take down of HOOC because “communists are notorious in recruiting children as combatants.”

US-based The Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) found that a private group linked to the HOOC Facebook page was being managed by an army captain, Alexandre F. Cabales.

Cabales, a government worker, is bound by the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees. Roque admitted last September 24, that the code also applies to the social media activities of government workers like soldiers and police.

The code says government workers must do their work with “professionalism” and must refrain from acts contrary to good morals, good customs, and public safety, among others.

No imminent Facebook ban

Malacañang clarified that President Rodrigo Duterte is yet to order a ban on Facebook and merely said he wanted to speak to the social media company’s executives.

“‘Di naman po siguro dahil ang sinasabi ng Presidente, kailangan mag-usap (Probably not because the President said, they need to talk),” said Roque.

He could not say when a meeting between Duterte, government officials, and Facebook executives would take place.

A group, led by then-Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, had also reached out to Facebook when it planned to tap Rappler and Vera Files as factcheckers, said Roque. The same group may contact Facebook for a meeting.

Fake news as protected speech?

Why is the Duterte administration so supportive of Facebook pages flagged for its coordinated spread of false information and use of fake accounts?

“Because we believe in freedom of speech,” said Roque.

“They may use as justification ‘inauthentic behavior’ but the effect is censorship because the content of a page is erased,” said the Duterte spokesman.

He floated the possibility that”inauthentic behavior,” which includes the use of bots or fake accounts for trolling and spreading hate speech, is protected speech.

“Perhaps what they’re referring to as coordinated inauthentic behavior may be a form of symbolic speech too,” said Roque.

He encouraged owners of the busted pages to file a complaint before courts so that the legality of Facebook’s actions may be challenged.

“I welcome the possiblity of the [HOOC] group, bring this to court. I encourage the groups that are pro-government, go to the court and let’s see what the ruling of our court will be,” said Roque.

Why Rappler, Vera Files?

The Duterte spokesman then hit Facebook for partnering with media groups’ Rappler and Vera Files in its fact-checking initiative. This is an old pet peeve of the government. Since 2018, the Duterte administration has questioned the partnership.

“Sino po sa bayan na ito ang magdududa na ang Rappler at ang Vera Files ay talaga namang kontra sa administrasyon ni Presidente Duterte? Bakit sila lamang ang kinuhang fact checkers ng Facebook?” said Roque.

(Who in this country will doubt that Rappler and Vera Files are against the administration of President Duterte? Why were they the only ones Facebook got as factcheckers.)

Rappler is not anti-government and has never supported any efforts to oust Duterte.

Rappler and Vera Files became factcheck partners of Facebook because both groups were certified by a non-partisan International Fact-Checking Network. – Rappler.com