PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. pushed for a "balanced" measure on fighting fake news and digital disinformation, while protecting the people's freedom of speech, Malacañang said Tuesday.
Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said the president urged lawmakers to include the proposed Anti-Fake News and Digital Disinformation Act among the priority measures targeted to be passed this June during a Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (Ledac) meeting.
"The president wants a balanced version of this bill. That’s what we heard from him: it must be balanced so it won’t affect freedom of expression," Castro said in a press briefing.
"There is a need to clearly define what constitutes fake news and disinformation," she added.
Castro said Marcos’ priority to address the spread of fake news would be pursued with full respect for constitutional rights and civil liberties.
"The president will not allow any form of freedom of expression or freedom of speech of our fellow citizens to be trampled upon," she said.
Speaker Faustino “Bojie” Dy III pushed for the inclusion of an anti-disinformation measure during the Ledac meeting, warning that the unchecked spread of digital falsehoods posed a serious threat to democratic institutions, national security, and the well-being of Filipino youth.
“At this juncture, we believe it is necessary to highlight the importance of passing a law against fake news and digital disinformation. Fake news or digital disinformation is serious threat to democracy,” Dy said in a statement.
He stressed the urgency of adopting a dedicated legal framework to confront what he described as an “organized and increasingly dangerous phenomenon,” warning that fake news is deliberately weaponized to erode public trust, manipulate electoral outcomes, and undermine national security.
The speaker expressed the House of Representatives’ support for House Bill 2697, authored by House Majority Leader Ferdinand Alexander “Sandro” Marcos.
The bill seeks to establish a comprehensive legal framework to combat fake news and digital disinformation while upholding constitutional guarantees on free expression.