THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday said it currently relies on partnerships with social media platforms to address election-related disinformation, amid the absence of a specific law on artificial intelligence (AI) and online campaigns.
Ma. Anne Tonette S. Rivera, legal head at the Office of the Comelec Chairperson, said the commission has partnerships with Meta, Tiktok and X that allow it to request the removal of posts containing fake news or other election-related violations.
Takedown requests are usually acted upon by the platforms within 24 hours, Ms. Rivera said.
“We were able to have a memorandum of agreement and commitment from various social media technologies so that they can regulate and police the private use of AI,” she added.
Ms. Rivera said Comelec currently requires candidates and political parties to register their official social media pages, which allows the commission to distinguish legitimate accounts from pages impersonating candidates or political parties.
The registration system also helps Comelec identify the legitimate source of campaign information and allows it to seek the removal of content from accounts that are not registered with the commission, she said.
Lanao Del Sur Rep. Ziaur-Rahman A. Adiong, who heads the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms, however, said that the arrangement leaves a gap because Comelec cannot directly regulate accounts created specifically to spread disinformation.
“That is where gaps occur,” Mr. Adiong said in Filipino, pointing to accounts created solely to disseminate disinformation and the reliance on platforms such as Meta to enforce their own guidelines.
Election watchdog Legal Network for Truthful Elections said regulation should focus on transparency rather than content, warning that broadly worded laws on false content could result in censorship.
They proposed mandatory disclosure of AI use, paid political advertisement and campaign financing, as well as registration of all accounts used in digital campaigns. — Pexcel John Bacon