- Sen. Grace Poe said she’s not pushing to block Facebook in the Philippines.
- Sen. Poe’s claimed video about her alleged plan to block Facebook is fake news.
Senator Grace Poe denied that she is pushing for the ban of Facebook and social media in the country.
In a televised interview, Poe said the news circulating in social media about her supposed push for Facebook ban in the Philippines is a misinformation.
“This is fake news. This is not true. First of all, that’s counterproductive. It’s wrong. This is really disinformation,” she said.
A video of Poe purportedly pushing for social media ban in the country has been making rounds in social media. The video was sparked by her statement on the January 30 Senate hearing on “fake news where she asked a legal expert if the government can do something to block hate speech that borders to criminal liability.
“Not that we’re going to do this. I’ll be the first to disagree if they do. But let’s say, can you block a particular company like Facebook from being accessed in the Philippines? Of course that would spark a revolution and we know that. But what I’m saying is this: They’re banking on their popularity but we should also assert their accountability to us,” Senator Poe asked
But the Senator insisted that the spliced video was a disinformation and fake news like that is the what the Senate is trying to fight.
“These are the products of fake news factories we are trying to combat. The Philippines now has a big industry bent on twisting the truth,” Poe said on her Facebook page.
At the same time, she also stressed that she will not push for the ban of Facebook because she herself and her family members are all on Facebook.
“Yung mga lumabas [sa social media], syempre hindi natin pipigilan. Ako mismo nasa Facebook, yung mga anak ko nasa Facebook, marami sa ating mga kababayan ang kumukuha ng balita mula sa Facebook,” she stressed.
