A viral Facebook post is circulating a letter supposedly written by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg addressed to the House of Representatives after child safety concerns on Meta’s platforms were raised in a House budget hearing. This is satire.
Since Sept. 18, various FB pages and users have spread a letter purportedly written by Zuckerberg saying Philippine laws do not have jurisdiction to summon him as an American citizen. A text from the spurious letter reads:
“And just for the record, I am an American citizen, sitting in the United States. Philippine laws do not magically acquire jurisdiction simply because a Filipino congressman sends me a summons.”
The letter also included remarks directed towards the House, including this statement:
“And while I respect Congress, I am not particularly familiar with the concept of being governed by the dictatorial whims of foreign legislators.”
Neither Zuckerberg nor any of Meta’s official channels issued official statements or letters addressing the “safety concerns” raised by the House of Representatives.
The Adobo Chronicles, a satirical news website created in 2013, first publicized the letter on Sept. 18. Without any label that the content is satire, various FB pages and users followed suit.
While others pointed out that the post is satire, many netizens in the comments section expressed belief that the letter was penned by Zuckerberg. Some of these are:
“Great reply. now, the ball is in your hands, congress.”
“Sabi ng iba ay fake o ai daw may gawa ng sulat. pero kung iisipin, tama naman ang mga sinabi ni Meta (Some people say the letter is fake or AI-generated, but if you think about it, what Meta said makes sense).”
The viral posts began circulating after the Department of Information and Communications Technology made a post on Sept. 18, saying the House of Representatives is summoning Zuckerberg to a congressional hearing on social media safety.
However, DICT published a clarificatory post saying no House resolution was issued calling on Zuckerberg to appear before Philippine lawmakers.
On Sept. 16, lawmakers flagged concerns on harmful online content following school violence cases carried out by students in Tacloban City and Zamboanga City. Philreca partylist Rep. Presley de Jesus requested that debates on DICT’s proposed 2027 budget be halted while it awaits the department’s crackdown efforts.
A blogging page shared the post and wrote a disclaimer at the end of the caption saying the “letter has not been independently established, and it should not be treated as an official statement from Zuckerberg.” However, that post alone already gained 67,800 reactions, 9,900 comments, and 11,000 shares.
As of writing, the posts published by FB page The Adobo Chronicles (created July 2, 2013), Lantaw ni Bay (created June 3, 2024), and 31 other FB pages and users collectively garnered 184, 464 reactions, 37,608 comments, and 28,961 shares.
