Through the years, communications by means of the traditional media—print, radio and television—evolved dramatically and swiftly into the new media we know today that is accessed through digital channels, including social media, email, Google and such other search engines.
Today, communications between and among people are done with ease such that a person in a remote barangay in Batanes could communicate with a family member in New York through a cell phone.
Internet technologies and platforms have greatly expanded and facilitated communications among people not only in our country but all over the world. Cell phones, for instance, have now become a “part” of people’s bodies that they cannot live without. It has, thus, become a person’s security blanket, so they could not even last a day without it.
Of course, there are also other devices using the internet or Wi-Fi that have been invented and widely used for personal, business, marketing, social interaction, etc., and which are now utilized for digitalized political campaigns for national and local elections.
It was observed that, in the last national elections, internet technology was used excessively because there were no set guidelines or restrictions to limit its use by candidates and political parties, especially those who had their campaigners create fake accounts, bots, and fake users, to take them a couple of steps closer towards their goal of winning.
Social media, in all its forms, in all its so-called platforms, was widely utilized, used and abused in the 2022 general elections, especially by the political parties and candidates who had all the money, logistics and other means to employ experts and specialists in creating social media platforms to promote their candidacies in all aspects, including questioning the qualifications and smearing the reputations of opposing candidates and parties through the utilization of fake accounts, trolls, bots, etc., to spread fake news, fake surveys, disinformation and misinformation.
These acts were left unchecked and the COMELEC did not issue any guidelines on the use and abuse of social media by political parties, their candidates, campaigners, and supporters. Rich candidates and political parties were able to hire thousands of trolls to flood social media platforms with their campaign propaganda. They appeared to have succeeded as shown by the results of the past national elections.
It was only this year that the COMELEC issued Resolution No.11064 on the rules governing the use of social media, artificial intelligence (AI), and other internet technologies for digital campaigns in next year’s midterm elections. The said resolution which requires candidates and political parties to strictly comply, also mandates social media companies or technology providers used by the political parties and candidates in carrying their campaign propaganda to adhere to the resolution. The penalties for violations include fines, “takedown requests,” and criminal prosecution.
COMELEC originally required that all official digital campaign platforms of political parties, party-list groups, and candidates, such as social media accounts, websites, and podcasts, must be registered with its office by December 13, 2024.
However, the COMELEC recently amended this provision by removing the requirement that accounts of private individuals must also be registered and regulated. The amendment was intended to uphold the freedom of speech and expression of private citizens.
The registration deadline of December 13, 2024 remains, but those intending to register after said date may still be considered and registered on a case-to-case basis. “Social media account registration is part of the digital election campaign. It aims to regulate the use of artificial intelligence and prohibit the proliferation of disinformation and misinformation,” explained the COMELEC.
But a law, with all its good intentions, could only be effective if properly implemented and the people abide by it. Filipinos, for one, are good at sneaking through loopholes in the law that could keep them from being prosecuted.
Let us take, for example, the campaign period. COMELEC set the campaign period to start on March 29, 2025 and end on May 10, 2025. But it has been observed that on the day itself, when the candidates filed the certificates of candidacies, most of them have already been conducting political caucuses.
Up to the present date, you could see from the social media posts of some candidates that they’ve been mingling and posing at parties of whatever celebrations there were, be they organized or held for them by their supporters or campaign managers.
You can see candidates showing up at meetings and get-togethers of barangays, civic and social organizations. But as long as the candidates are not wearing their circus costumes, their names and the positions that they’re running for, are not displayed; even if their hands are raised to show endorsements of their candidacies; these may not be enough to warrant a case for election law violation.
Going over the COMELEC resolution regulating digitalized political campaigns, we are certain that there will be loopholes that candidates and their campaigners will find and manipulate to their advantage.
COMELEC can only hope that voters and candidates and supporters will sincerely abide by its resolutions because, maybe it does not have enough resources to implement them effectively.
