WITH the increasing number of Covid-19 cases after the holidays, news about the breaching of quarantine protocols, and the confirmed presence of the Omicron variant in the country, it is definitely not the time to propagate fake news and share unverified information in social media.
On Tuesday night, an infographic allegedly announcing that 30 more areas are placed under Alert Level 3 until January 30, 2022 turned out to be a hoax. I, for one, immediately thought that it was a legitimate post by a leading TV network, but as they say, I had a gut feel that it might not be credible. I immediately visited the official Facebook page of the said channel and searched for the post, but it was not there. That's when I decided that the said information material is not a reliable post and I did not repost or share it in my timeline. A few minutes after, I saw a post from the Department of Health FB page denouncing the said social media card to be fake.
The circulation of such fake news and information is punishable under certain laws such as the Article 154 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC) as amended Republic Act No. 10951 which provides that "any person who by means of printing, lithography, or any other means of publication shall publish or cause to be published as news any false news which may endanger the public order, or cause damage to the interest or credit of the state shall be imposed with the penalty of arresto mayor and a fine ranging from P40,000 to P200,000."
Further, under Republic Act 10175 or the “Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012,” it is stated that when a crime defined through the RPC are "committed by, through, and with the use of information and communications technologies" the offender will be slapped with a penalty one degree higher than that provided by the RPC.
Specifically, in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, under Republic Act 11469 or the “Bayanihan to Heal as One Act,” "individuals or groups creating, perpetrating, or spreading false information regarding the COVID-19 crisis on social media and other platforms, such information having no valid or beneficial effect on the population, and are clearly geared to promote chaos, panic anarchy, fear, or confusion" will be sanctioned and properly dealt with under the provisions of the said law.
Which agency of the government is tasked to investigate and issue warrants against those allegedly circulating fake news in social media? Under Republic Act 10867 or the “National Bureau of Investigation Reorganization and Modernization Act,” the President or the Secretary of Justice is authorized to direct the NBI to conduct investigation related to any crime or offense that pose dangers to the people whether directly or indirectly. The question now is, can the NBI, with all its existing instrumentalities and staff complement, possibly ensure that no such incidents happen again.
We can say that Facebook for this matter has also instituted its own security measures and mechanisms to combat the spread of fake news in its platform. It has deployed third party fact-checking organizations, machine learning systems to detect fraud and spam accounts, and easier reporting and flagging of false news.
But I still believe that while these mechanisms exist, culprits will always find a way to commit cyber crimes such as circulating false news and information whether funded or not, or with real harmful motivations or just for the sake of posting fake news. We still need to advocate to all social media users how to be critical of the information that we see in social media. These tips will be shared in my next column.