DILG slams Facebook for flagging post of national security adviser 

THE DEPARTMENT of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Wednesday denounced Facebook and what it tagged as “biased fact-checkers” for flagging the post of a security adviser calling for unity against the armed communist movement and their party-list allies.   

National Security Adviser (NSA) Hermogenes C. Esperon, Jr. made the post on April 14, alleging that the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People’s Army, have infiltrated the country’s party-list system.   

“The imprudence of Facebook to warn Secretary Esperon on a national security issue is unthinkable and downright offensive as the social media platform has taken on the role of Big Brother with the power to censure the social media posts of the NSA himself on matters of national security,” Interior Undersecretary Jonathan E. Malaya said in a statement.   

“This move of FB is alarming, if not dangerous, as it has appointed itself as an omnipotent force,” he said.   

“Finally, we call on Facebook to stick to its goal of helping people connect and engage, and to leave national security matters to the experts,” he said. 

Meta Platforms, Inc., Facebook’s parent organization, earlier suspended a network of more than 400 accounts, pages, and groups as the Philippines is in the midst of the campaign period for the May 9 national and local elections.  

“To help keep people safe during the upcoming Philippine general election, we’ve built new products and developed stronger policies in collaboration with the Commission on Elections, election watchdogs, independent fact-checkers, and civil society organizations,” it said in a blog post.  

The company said it uses artificial intelligence technology that it trained in Filipino to help detect and remove hate speech, bullying and harassment and content that violates its violence and incitement policies. — John Victor D. Ordoñez