Senate panel to subpoena Meta over repeated snub of hearing on disinformation, troll farms

MANILA, Philippines – A Senate panel will subpoena Facebook parent firm Meta after the company failed to attend a hearing on three major bills seeking to curb online disinformation, regulate social media algorithms, and criminalize troll farms on Monday, December 15.

Senator Rodante Marcoleta made the motion during the Monday hearing of the Senate committee on public information and mass media. The company was formally invited but did not send a representative and instead submitted an excuse letter, even as its platforms were repeatedly cited throughout the hearings.

When the committee secretary confirmed Meta’s absence, Senate panel chairman Robin Padilla voiced frustration and said the Senate should compel the company’s attendance.

“Noong 19th Congress pa ‘yan, excuse ng excuse.” (That’s been the case since the 19th Congress, excuse after excuse.)

Marcoleta moved to subpoena Meta to attend the next hearing. Padilla seconded the motion.

The absence stood in contrast to TikTok, which sent Yves Gonzalez, its head of government affairs and public policy.

What are the bills?

Padilla, author of one of the measures, presided the hearing on Senate bills 191, 1441, and 1490, which lawmakers described as interlinked responses to the country’s growing disinformation problem.

Senate Bill 191 or the proposed Anti-False Content and Fake News Act targets the deliberate creation and dissemination of false or misleading online content that causes harm to individuals, public order, or national interests. 

The bill seeks to authorize the Department of Justice’s Office of Cybercrime to issue rectification orders, takedown orders, access-blocking orders, and preventive takedowns, subject to due process and appeal.

Lawmakers backing the measure said existing legal remedies are too slow to respond to the speed at which false content spreads online, often leaving victims without timely relief.

Senate Bill No. 1441 or the proposed Social Media Fairness and Algorithmic Transparency Act shifts attention from individual users to the systems that determine what content Filipinos see online. The bill would require large platforms to disclose how their algorithms rank, amplify, demote, or suppress content, particularly political material, and submit to audits and transparency reports.

During the hearing, senators repeatedly questioned why algorithms that shape elections, public opinion, and public trust operate without local oversight. In the bill’s explanatory note, Senate President Vicente Sotto III warned that algorithm-driven feeds tend to favor sensational content over verified journalism.

“Traditional journalism is struggling to compete with sensationalist content, leaving citizens exposed to rumor over fact. Citizens deserve not only free expression but also fair and open access to valid information that allows them to make informed decisions. Democracy cannot thrive if truth is drowned out by algorithmic manipulation and if political discourse is filtered by hidden, profit-driven formulas,” Sotto wrote.

Senate Bill No. 1490 or the proposed Anti-Troll Farm Act seeks to criminalize the operation, financing, or concealment of organized troll farms, including the use of public funds, government facilities, or equipment for coordinated disinformation campaigns.

Bill author Padilla framed troll farms as organized machinery rather than organic online behavior, warning that their impact extends beyond politics and into governance and national stability.

Identity verification, safeguard freedom of expression

Sotto also raised the issue of identity verification on social media, arguing that anonymity enables fake accounts, troll farms, and repeat disinformation offenders. He floated the idea of limiting users to one account per real person, potentially linked to the national ID system or another form of verified identification, to strengthen accountability.

Throughout the hearing, senators and resource persons emphasized that disinformation does not spread by accident. Algorithms decide what content is amplified, what goes viral, and what is buried, yet no Philippine agency currently has the power to audit or compel disclosure of those systems.

Fact-checkers stressed that they have no control over algorithmic outcomes.

Rappler lead researcher on disinformation and and platforms Gemma Mendoza explained that they rate content on Facebook, and the platform makes use of these content ratings to guide action on potentially similar false content. Mendoza also said the sheer volume of content limits what independent groups can review.

She explained that fact-checkers can only review and rate content, while decisions on labeling, demotion, or removal rest entirely with platforms.

Law enforcement agencies, including the Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation, told senators that takedown requests are usually acted on immediately only in cases involving terrorism, child exploitation, or national security, leaving disinformation and political falsehoods largely dependent on platform cooperation.

At the same time, lawmakers and legal experts repeatedly stressed the need to safeguard freedom of expression. Padilla said regulation should not come at the expense of press freedom.

“Sisiguraduhin po natin, hindi masasaktan ang malayang pamamahayag.” (We will make sure that freedom of the press will not be harmed.)

Concerns were also raised that the proposed measures could be weaponized through cyber libel if safeguards are not clearly written into law. Falcis warned that libel and cyber libel have increasingly been used to silence critics and urged lawmakers to add protections for political speech, satire, parody, and public participation.

The committee is expected to continue deliberations through technical working groups. – Rappler.com