Raffy Tulfo wants vloggers regulated to help fight fake news

Senator Raffy Tulfo on Monday said that it’s about time that vloggers have a national organization that would regulate their content and help combat the proliferation of fake news in the country.

During the Senate Committee on Labor Employment and Human Resources Development hearing on the Media Workers’ Welfare Act, Tulfo, who himself had experience working in the media industry, attested that traditional media do not report false information to the public as they have superiors that oversee their work.

“I know that for a fact na ‘yung regular TV stations, hindi ‘yan nagpapalabas ‘yan ng mga fake news. ‘Yung mga radio stations, maging sa mga newspaper. Maliban na lang siguro sa mga vloggers na walang nire-reportan na amo o kumpanya. Independent. ‘Yun ang nakakatakot. Doon nagu-umpisa ang fake news,” he said.

(I know for a fact that regular TV stations, even radio stations and newspapers, do not report fake news. Except maybe vloggers who don't report to a boss or company. The independent ones—that's what's scary. That's where fake news starts.)

Tulfo, however, pointed out that many independent vloggers remain responsible in releasing contents despite not having companies or entities to report to.

He then pitched that there be an organization for vloggers similar to the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas to promote responsible reporting.

“I don't know if this needs legislation na magkaron ng 'Kapisanan ng mga Vloggers sa Pilipinas' or something to that effect na para magkakaroon ng policing…among their ranks na para maging responsable na sila, that they should be recognized by the government,” Tulfo said.

(I don't know if it needs legislation to create 'Kapisanan ng mga Vloggers sa Pilipinas' or something to that effect so that there will be policing...among their ranks so that they can be responsible, and that they should be recognized by the government.)

“Marami nga diyan na mga vloggers na sumusunod sa code of ethics, sa tamang pamamaraan na para ilabas mo ‘yung mga storya mo sa social media. Pero meron pa rin talaga diyan mga guerilla, na talaga ‘pag umupak, upak lang, without thinking of the consequences because walang nagre-regulate sa kanila and then bahala na kapag ide-demanda o hindi,” he added.

(There are many vloggers who follow the code of ethics in releasing their stories on social media. But there are still ‘guerillas’ out there, who merely just attack without thinking of the consequences because no one is regulating them. They don’t care if they will be sued or not.) — RSJ, GMA Integrated News