MANILA – Facebook revealed that the Philippine government requested the data of 42 users of the social media website in the first six months of the year.
There were 31 total data requests from the Philippine government to access Facebook data this year, with 22 of them considered emergency requests and nine requests are for legal processes. A request may cover more than one user.
The bi-annual Facebook Transparency Report showed that 48 percent of these requests have some, if not all, data produced. But the report did not specify the users involved.
A request for data is considered an emergency if it involves “imminent risk of serious physical injury or death.”
Total requests for data from January to June 2018 went down from the 36 in July to December 2017. Of those requests, 44 percent of them had data produced.
In the first half of 2018, Facebook also received 135 “preservation requests” from the Philippine government which dealt with 189 accounts. Requests to preserve information are allowed pending the receipt of legal processes.
“Maintaining transparency around the nature and extent of the government requests we receive for user data, and how we make decisions about what content stays up or what comes down on Facebook, is really important to us,” Facebook Vice President and Deputy General Counsel Chris Sonderby said.
Sonderby, in a statement, said requests for account data increased globally by around 26 percent compared to the second half of 2017, up from 82,341 to 103,815 requests.
“We always scrutinize each government request we receive for account data to make sure it is legally valid. If a request appears to be deficient or overly broad, we push back, and will fight in court, if necessary,” he said.
Facebook has admitted it needs oversight with content moderation.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg said they plan to establish an independent group to oversee users’ appeals of content policy decisions starting next year.
Critcs have long urged the company to exhibit greater transparency into what content Facebook’s human moderators and artificial intelligence take down, keep up and why.
The news, which was announced on a call with reporters, came one day after a report from The New York Times revealed how Facebook execs, including Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg, navigated the company’s recent crises, ranging from Russian interference to data privacy.
The company’s response included digging up dirt on competitors and critics, according to the report.
“I think people want to trust our intention,” said Zuckerberg, who said the press call announcement was scheduled before the report published. “People expect companies to learn and not keep making the same mistake.” (With reports from CNN/PN)
