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

A civil society group is urging Marcos Jnr to start a social media regulatory board but analysts fear the move could be targeted at silencing critics

Some analysts question how such a board could ‘police and punish’ foreign social media platforms that the Philippines ‘has no jurisdiction over’

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Published: 8:54pm, 17 May 2024

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr is under pressure to create a social media regulatory board to combat “anti-government propaganda” ahead of the 2025 midterm elections, a move that analysts view as a tactic to silence critics rather than to resolve national security threats.

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.

The group on Tuesday filed a complaint with the national police’s Anti-Cybercrime Group to address the creators of a “deepfaked” audio clip of Marcos Jnr allegedly ordering an attack on China. The presidential palace denounced the audio as fake on April 24.

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

Customers at a cafe at Cebu IT Park in Cebu City. Section 154 of the Philippines’ penal code penalises the publication of false news that endangers public order or harms the state’s interests, with a maximum jail term of six months. Photo: Bloomberg

Evolving technology can influence public opinion and create national security concerns, he said, and such a regulatory board could target social media sites, individuals, and groups promoting anti-government content.