De Lima: Meta sharing info with gov’t OK as long as it’s vs threats

MANILA, Philippines — There is no issue with Meta’s decision to share with the Philippine government the information of its users as long as it is in the context of fighting threats and not conducting surveillance, human rights advocate and Mamamayang Liberal party-list Rep. Leila de Lima said on Friday.

De Lima, in a statement, said that Meta’s decision to cooperate with local authorities in terms of identifying potential threats, as relayed by Senator Risa Hontiveros, is a welcome development, especially for her since she is one of the lawmakers who have been pushing for a bill that would protect minors from harms brought by the internet.

“As one of the principal authors of (the proposed) Child Online Safety and Protection Act in the House of Representatives, this is a crucial step toward making social media safer for our children,” she said.

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“As I said, we must not be reactive but relentless in protecting our children. This safeguard should have been put in place long ago, especially since their platform has been used for online threats, child abuse, grooming, exploitation and sexual extortion schemes, among other heinous crimes,” she added.

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Hontiveros on Friday said that a Philippine delegation was able to elicit a commitment from Meta, which owns and manages social media sites Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, along with other messaging apps, to provide authorities important information should they spot a possible threat to children.

READ: Hontiveros: Meta agrees to share user data with PH gov’t over threats

While it is good news, de Lima said it must be clear that the purpose of this user data sharing is to fight threats brought by violent social media content, and not to profile individuals expressing legitimate dissent.

“Also, let us be clear: Our purpose should be to shrink the world of predators by enabling us to pursue them across borders, not to shrink our democratic space,” she said.

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“Data sharing must be commensurate with the intent or scope of data to be released so as not to open the gate to state surveillance of legitimate criticism and the weaponization of the law,” De Lima explained.

Currently, there is strong support from different branches of the government towards a social media ban for children. At Thursday’s hearing of the House committee on appropriations, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said he agrees with the proposed social media ban, backing suggestions to restrict it for users aged 14 and below.

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“I am in total agreement with the ban,” Remulla told lawmakers. “I would prefer 14-years-old and below that they be banned or restricted hours of use.”

READ: DILG chief bats for restricted social media use for kids 14 and below

Then on Wednesday, the Senate committee on public information and mass media endorsed a bill seeking to set 16 years old as the minimum age for social media use.

Both moves came amid fears that unrestricted social media use may have led students behind the school shooting incidents at the San Jose National High School in Tacloban City last June 22 and the Ateneo de Zamboanga University in Zamboanga City last August 18 to do these actions.

Three students were killed during the Tacloban shooting, while two, including the gunman, were confirmed dead after the incident at Ateneo de Zamboanga University.

There is a belief that the perpetrators in both incidents were supposedly exposed to violent content online.

READ: Senate panel endorses bill setting 16 as minimum age for social media

But aside from just curbing violence in campuses, de Lima said the cooperation should be “maximized” and include other issues such as the proliferation of fake news, disinformation and misinformation campaigns—matters that the lawmaker said also pose a threat to the country’s sovereignty and peace and order situation.

“This coordination should also be maximized to combat fake news and disinformation, which pose real and urgent threats to our sovereignty, peace and order, national security, healthcare, electoral and justice systems, and civil liberties,” she said.

“Law enforcement must go after abusers and dismantle networks and coordinated disinformation campaigns that use troll farms and similar infrastructure to sow distrust and negativism,” she added.

Malacañang on Thursday said there is no immediate need to ban Facebook in the Philippines after the social media giant showed willingness to respond to government requests to remove fake news and violent content.

The possibility of restricting access to other social media platforms and other online gaming apps, however, remains should they fail to regulate content that could influence the youth to engage in violent behavior and the proliferation of misinformation and disinformation.

Two medical groups have also warned against the unsupervised use of social media by children aged 16 years old and below, saying that it poses risks to a child’s mental health and development.

READ: Docs’ prescription: Keep kids off social media

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In a statement on Facebook on Friday, the Philippine Pediatric Society (PPS) said it does not recommend social media use among children 16 and below. Should they be given access, the group said children should not be allowed to use social media independently. /cb