FILIPINO social media influencers should be more responsible in creating content for their online audience, House of Representatives Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez said on Wednesday as he urged them not to spread falsehoods.
He said that some internet content creators have been spreading false information about the country’s crime rates online, which could cause mass panic and threaten the country’s stability.
“Social media is a powerful tool. But when it’s used to manufacture lies and sow panic, it becomes a threat to national stability,” Mr. Romualdez said in a statement. “Freedom of speech does not mean freedom to mislead and deceive.”
“Let us not be spokespeople for lies. While real crime is decreasing, fabricated stories and scripted videos are spreading rapidly online,” he added.
Mr. Romualdez has accused some social media content creators of spreading fabricated crime videos, which he claims distort the true state of the country’s crime situation.
“When people stage crimes just to go viral, they’re not just misleading the public — they’re mocking real victims and sabotaging police work,” he said. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio
