MANILA, Philippines — The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and other relevant government agencies were urged to strengthen efforts to combat Chinese propaganda that spreads misinformation online regarding the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
House impeachment adviser and prosecution panel spokesperson Robert Ace Barbers made the pronouncement in reference to a specific Facebook page, “Media Unlocked,” which he described as a source of fake news that “shamelessly twists facts to fit its narrative.”
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Barbers likened this type of propaganda machine to pornographic websites.
“NTC should block these China misinformation pages the same way that the government cracks down on porn sites. To follow or subscribe to these pages should be deemed unpatriotic,” he said in a statement.
According to Barbers, the NTC can order internet service providers (ISPs) to block certain websites.
Barbers said that although the NTC’s authority is limited and subject to legal challenges, it oversees ISPs and public telecom entities and can therefore issue directives requiring them to block malicious domains, especially when coordinated with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).
The former lawmaker also said the NTC should look into having the particular Facebook page flagged for fake news, with relevant agencies coming up with video explainers debunking the claims made by Media Unlocked.
“They should take it down, or better yet, before taking it down, an explainer from our end will discuss frame by frame the misinformation they’re spreading just like what the Chinese girl in the video is doing,” he said.
“So that even if it is seen by the Filipino youth, they will be able to discern the fake news from the real one,” he added.
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The video that Barbers was referring to claimed that a Philippine vessel “intruded” into the “Chinese territorial waters of Huangyan Island” as part of a “staged drama.”
Huangyan Island is the Chinese name for Bajo de Masinloc, a feature that is in fact well within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
The video also insinuated that the Philippine vessel purposely “cut across the sailing path of a Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) ship,” supposedly to trigger a water cannon response from the CCG ship, which a CNN crew then captured.
Senior Deputy Minority Leader Mamamayang Liberal (ML) party-list Rep. Leila de Lima blasted the page for spewing lies about the Philippines’ exercise of its sovereignty in the WPS.
“We condemn this kind of content that clearly peddles fake news and disinformation about what is really happening in the [WPS]. Such content echoes China’s propaganda and misleads the public by justifying its hostilities and incursions into Philippine territory,” she said.
She also called on the DICT and other concerned agencies to closely monitor such content and similar pages and “urgently implement the necessary measures to prevent the spread of fake news and disinformation.”
“Our government should also strengthen its collaboration with digital platforms to ensure that false and misleading content has no place in our digital space,” she said.
“If China does not stop its harassment and claims over what it does not own, and continues spreading such lies, then the government must be more serious and even more aggressive in educating our people, especially the youth, on the importance of defending our territory,” she added.
Meanwhile, Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon said the Department of National Defense (DND) and NSC must also flex their muscles when it comes to such content.
“The DND and the NSC should flag all social media pages and content which propagate fake news, misinformation and disinformation relating to the nation’s lawful and legitimate rights over the [WPS],” the House committee on public accounts chairman said.
“They should make representations before social media platforms for the removal of these pages and content on the basis of fake news, misinformation and disinformation,” he added.
The Philippines and China have been embroiled in maritime disputes after the latter country made sweeping claims over the South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea, which is well within the Southeast Asian country’s EEZ.
The 2016 Arbitral Award, which stemmed from a case filed by Manila in 2013, already invalidated China’s claim, but the Asian giant continued to deliberately ignore the ruling, consistently encroaching on Philippine waters. /mcm
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