“Walang bastos, double meaning or fake news… no political advertisements or posts tungkol sa awayan, kaguluhan or hidwaan.”
These, according to Commission on Elections (Comelec) chair George Erwin Garcia, are the things that must be avoided when posting on social media in relation to the forthcoming 2025 elections, particularly in promoting certain candidates or political issues, warning that their accounts may be taken down.
Speaking at the second year anniversary of the Manila City Hall Reporters’ Association’s “MACHRA Balitaan sa Harbor View,” Garcia said that the Comelec will not act directly on posts that contain indecency, fake news or disinformation and the like, as this may be taken as a violation of free speech.
However, an agreement entered into by the Comelec with Meta, Google and Tiktok gives the said social media platforms the power to take down posts that are considered violative of the agreement provisions. In such case, Garcia said the Comelec will no longer be able to do anything about it.
“Pupuwede sila (social media platforms) magtanggal, wala kaming magagawa… dun sila magrereklamo sa platform concerned,” Garcia said.
The said platforms, he said, have agreed to work with Comelec in immediately taking down the accounts of unregistered candidates.
He also called on candidates to have their social media accounts registered with the poll body up to December 13, 2024, saying “wala naman pong limit kahit ilan basta’t naka-rehistro sa amin. Otherwise, pupuwede po naming ipatanggal ang lahat ng posts na andiyan lalo pa’t ang purpose ay ikampanya ang isang kandidato.”
“Hinding-hindi po namin pakikialaman ‘yung content ng nakalagay sa posts dahil pag pinakialaman namin ‘yan lalabas na viol yan ng freedom of expresssion at freedom of speech,”Garcia added.
The Comelec chair said the rules or guidelines governing the use of social media platforms will be a test in preparation for the 2028 Presidential and Vice Presidential elections.
