00:00The Department of Information and Communications Technology of the Election Watchdogs deployed
00:05to monitor the spread of false information on social media
00:09regarding the upcoming national and local elections.
00:12This is what Noel Talacan has to say.
00:16Social media platforms will play a big role in spreading false information
00:23regarding the upcoming elections, according to the government employee, Nermar.
00:29With regards to social media, it's faster to spread misinformation and to vote
00:36because most Filipinos use social media and the internet.
00:41This scenario is expected by the Department of Information and Communications Technology or DICT.
00:48That's why the agency deployed election watchdogs
00:53to monitor disinformation, misinformation, fake news, and deepfakes on social media.
01:01NGOs or volunteers that are willing to put in their resources, their time in order to be watchdogs.
01:14One of the NGOs that approached the DICT is Scamwatch Pilipinas.
01:19According to its co-founder, Josel Di Guzman,
01:22one of what they are looking at now is what they call a zombie account
01:27or social media accounts that were hacked and trolled accounts during the last election.
01:32Not only will this be used to spread disinformation, misinformation, fake news, and deepfakes,
01:40it will also be used for scams or buying votes.
01:45You can use the power of your election practice to promise people that if you want to earn Php 2,000,
01:56you just need to vote for this candidate and click on the link.
01:59Now, there's nothing to do with the candidate's link, you just need to get your account or scam.
02:05DICT Secretary Uy explained that their actions still depend on the Comelec.
02:11if they ever see a social media account that spreads misinformation.
02:17We are deputies, so we act in accordance to the directives of Comelec during the election.
02:24Uy insisted that the DICT has been cooperating with social media platforms
02:29to take down social media accounts that spread misinformation.
02:35We are very cooperative with the social media platforms, some of them.
02:39So they will say, oh, we'll look into it.
02:42Sometimes, we complain that the communists are a bit slow,
02:47instead of hacking immediately, one day, two days, three days, a week, before they take action.
02:55Nermar was pleased that the DICT is proactive in election-related issues related to social media.
03:02Nermar also reminded that all Filipinos should be responsible for using their own social media accounts.
03:11Maybe, do some research first before you decide.
03:16And don't just blindly believe what you read or see on social media.
03:22The DICT will warn the public not to just blindly believe what is posted on social media.
03:29Noel Talacay for Pambasang TV in the new Philippines.
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