MANILA – Allaying the fears of the netizens, the Malacañang said that social media giant Facebook is unlikely to be shut down in the Philippines despite earning the ire of President Rodrigo Duterte.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said that President Duterte is open to a dialogue with Facebook after it took down several pages, mostly supporters of the administration.
“Hindi naman po,” Roque said in a virtual press conference when asked if Duterte’s remark was a threat. “Mag-uusap po sila. Ang sabi ni Presidente kinakailangan mag-usap.”
“Well, alam ninyo po parehong hindi mabuti iyan sa Facebook at sa Pilipinas ‘no, number one po kasi sa buong mundo tayo sa Facebook ‘no,” the Palace spokesperson added.
Roque said that the social media giant’s recent move is an act of censorship that suppresses freedom of speech, while it is also unfair that Facebook is singling out pro-government pages.
“Ang kongkretong aksiyon po ay huwag pong supilin ang kalayaan nang malayang pananalita ng mga personalidad o mga pages na pabor po sa gobyerno. Kasi ang nangyayari po, kapag laban sa gobyerno hindi po tinatanggal ng Facebook; kapag sumusuporta sa gobyerno natatanggal po,” Roque said.
In his public address on Monday, Duterte hit the social media giant after it recently shut down pages allegedly linked to the military and police for “coordinated inauthentic behavior” last week./PN
