Vloggers’ regulatory body proposed

NEWS GAME CHANGER? The recent election season saw the emergence of more vloggers covering events alongside mainstream media. The group photographed here is composed mostly of pro-Marcos and pro-Duterte vloggers swarming around activist priest Robert Reyes outside the Commission on Elections main office in Manila on May 11. —RICHARD A. REYES

MANILA, Philippines — In order to prevent the proliferation of fake news on social media, Senator Raffy Tulfo on Monday suggested the creation of a regulatory body that will oversee the content that vloggers in the Philippines produce.

During the Senate committee on labor and human resources development’s hearing on media workers’ welfare act, Tulfo said many independent vloggers are responsible, but there are others who are heedless enough to spread false information online. 

“There are many independent vloggers who are responsible. There are many of them that although they don’t report to a certain company or entity, [are] still responsible. That’s why, maybe it’s about time, I don’t know if it needs legislation, to have a ‘Kapisanan ng mga Vloggers sa Pilipinas’ or something to that effect,” said Tulfo in English and Filipino. 

According to Tulfo, this could help prevent the spread of fake news on digital platforms. 

“Marami dyang vloggers na sumusunod sa code of ethics at  tamang pamamaraan para ilabas ang storya sa social media, pero meron pa rin talaga dyan na may mga gerilya na kapag umupak ay upak lang, without thinking of the consequence dahil walang nagreregulate sa kanila,” said Tulfo.

(There are many vloggers who follow the code of ethics and the correct method to release a story on social media, but there are still guerillas out there who when they attack, they just attack, without thinking of the consequence because no one regulates them.)

In the same hearing, Tulfo stressed the vital role that media practitioners play to ensure that Filipinos remain educated and updated about what is happening in the country and the world.

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