A Facebook post circulating online claims that Facebook will be banned in the Philippines if Meta Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg does not attend the investigation to be conducted by the House of Representatives. This is false.
Published on Sept. 21, the graphic with a photo of Zuckerberg and House Deputy Minority Leader and Philreca party-list Rep. Presley de Jesus bore the text:
“TINGNAN: BAN ANG FACEBOOK SA PILIPINAS PAG HINDI DUMALO SA
IMBESTIGASYON NG KONGRESO SI MARK ZUCKERBERG!”
(Look: Facebook to be banned in the Philippines if Mark Zuckerberg fails to attend the
congressional investigation).”
De Jesus filed House Resolution No. 1460 seeking an inquiry into Meta’s continued availability in the country amid online harm concerns, including child exploitation, illegal gambling, scams and disinformation peddling. The probe will look into Meta’s existing safety measures, the level of responsiveness it gives to complaints and how closely they cooperate with Philippine authorities.
The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) previously criticized Meta’s response to online safety concerns saying:
“Unlike other technology platforms that have demonstrated meaningful cooperation with authorities and concrete progress in safeguarding users, Meta continues to fall short of its responsibility and commitment to youth safety.”
Results of the inquiry will be used to determine if Meta platforms FB, Messenger, WhatsApp, Instagram and Threads need heightened regulation, restrictions or be banned from the Philippines.
There is no formal invitation for Zuckerberg to attend the inquiry, and there is nothing in HR 1640 that makes his attendance a condition for the continued operations of the popular social media platform.
De Jesus did urge Meta to send its top executives and said Zuckerberg might want to “drop by” to show how important the Philippines is to Meta.
The misleading post surfaced amid continuing issues over Meta’s current safety protocols including fake advertisements, scams, disinformation, and other inappropriate and harmful content.
The graphic was originally posted by FB page Satire News (created October 2023) but has been taken down, and reposted by several users that collectively accumulated at least 4,964 reactions; 2,355 comments and 419 shares.
