Two lawmakers have introduced a bill to hold disinformation peddlers, particularly troll farms, vloggers, influencers, and political candidates accountable for creating targeted disinformation.
House Bill 11178, or the Anti-Troll Farm and Election Disinformation Act, was filed by representatives Margarita Nograles-Almario (PBA Partylist) and Cheeno Miguel Almario (Davao Oriental, 2nd District).
The bill aims to prohibit and penalize troll farms, defined as groups of two or more individuals organized to deliberately create or spread false information. It also seeks to protect candidates and individuals from electoral disinformation.
The proposed bill identifies three prohibited acts. First, it bans creating, maintaining, operating, funding, sponsoring, or collaborating with troll farms. Second, it prohibits producing disinformation that damages a political candidate’s reputation, which includes hiring individuals such as vloggers and influencers to amplify such falsehoods for political gain. Third, it forbids coordinating with or instructing third parties, including media outlets and vloggers, to generate and disseminate disinformation against a candidate.
The authors cited Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, stating that freedom of speech may be “restricted” in cases of disrespect, defamation, or when necessary for national security and public order.
Disinformation was especially rampant in the 2022 national elections, where fact checking coalition TsekPH reported that most false or misleading information about eventual winners President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte benefitted their reputations, while their opponents, former Vice President Leni Robredo and former Senator Kiko Pangilinan, mostly faced disinformation maligning their reputations.
Considering the effectiveness of troll farms and disinformation in the Philippine election setting, it will be interesting to see whether the country’s politicians, who would be its primary beneficiaries, are going to support a bill that will crack down on a system that although dirty, has been proven to be quite effective in serving their interests.
Let us see where this goes.*
