The House Tri-Committee investigating the spread of fake news has issued show cause orders to the Philippine offices of Facebook and TikTok following their absence from a recent congressional hearing on disinformation.
1RIDER Party-list Rep. Rodge Gutierrez revealed that the committee received a letter from U.S.-based law firm White & Case, representing Meta, stating that Facebook Philippines was not authorized to accept the invitation.
“Just for the information of the body, we received a letter from U.S. counsel stating that Meta cannot be invited,” Gutierrez said.
He argued that Facebook Philippines should have attended the hearing, citing Google Philippines’ participation despite being part of an international entity.
“Although Google and Alphabet are international, Google Philippines chose to appear. So I believe, Mr. Chair, this reason does not hold for Facebook Philippines’ absence,” he added.
Gutierrez then moved to issue a show cause order to Facebook Philippines.
“Given that they have failed to substantiate their reason for non-attendance, may I move, Mr. Chair, that a show cause order be issued to Facebook Philippines?” he said.
Antipolo City Rep. Romeo Acop sought clarification on which entities would receive the orders, suggesting an omnibus issuance.
“Could you enumerate the platforms that will be issued show cause orders? Let’s issue them altogether, Mr. Chair,” Acop suggested.
Gutierrez also addressed the absence of ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, which cited an unverified engagement in Singapore as the reason for non-attendance.
“They sent a letter stating they could not appear due to an engagement in Singapore, but they failed to provide proof of that engagement,” he noted.
He then proposed issuing show cause orders to both ByteDance Philippines and Facebook Philippines.
“I’d like to move that a show cause order be issued to ByteDance Philippines and Facebook Philippines, Mr. Chair,” Gutierrez stated.
For clarity, Gutierrez specified the individuals to whom the orders should be addressed:
“As the Committee Secretary has informed me, we need to include the specific persons in the motion. For ByteDance Philippines, that is Ms. Peachy Paderna. For Meta Platforms, or Facebook Philippines, it is Mr. Genixon David,” he said.
The Tri-Committee—comprising the Committees on Public Order and Safety, Information and Communications Technology, and Public Information—is ramping up its investigation into the proliferation of online disinformation and fake news.
The recent hearing sought to evaluate the role of social media platforms in spreading misleading content and to explore potential regulatory measures to curb disinformation.