COMELEC will regulate and monitor electoral campaigns and spending in social media ahead of the 2022 elections.
COMELEC — The Commission on Elections will regulate and monitor electoral campaigns and spending in social media ahead of the 2022 elections.
The COMELEC has engaged Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok to monitor and regulate the electoral campaigns and spending in the social media ahead of the 2022 elections.
COMELEC Spokesperson James Jimenez said on “The Mangahas Interviews” that the poll body had engaged the social media platforms to have access and tools in order to regulate political advertisements and other activities on social media.
However, Jimenez noted that the COMELEC will only start monitoring advertisements starting February 8, 2022 onwards as the official start of the campaign period.
Jimenez also bared that they will have an access to monitor political campaigns via social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tiktok, among others.
“Yung Instagram ay under Facebook so makukuha natin yan,” Jimenez said. “Yung Youtube again mino-monitor din natin yan. Meron tayong nga tao sa Comelec na nagbabantay at meron tayong paraan para makuha yung reklamo ng publiko tungkol diyan sa mga ads na ‘yan.”
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When asked if the COMELEC would regulate the behavior of “trolls” online, Jimenez said that the poll body would monitor and look for coordinated behavior.
Jimenez also said that the poll body will consider the “red flag” as a “campaign adjunct” or a surrogate of the candidate if it was a coordinated behavior.
The COMELEC spokesperson also appealed to Congress to create legislation in order to implement stricter and appropriate measures in the upcoming campaign season.
“That’s the reason why humihingi kami from Congress ng batas on social media,” Jimenez said when told about the difficulty of having to monitor thousands of social media pages online.
On Partnership With TikTok
Jimenez also said that the poll body has a partnership with Tiktok as the latter has a policy of “no political ads”.
“Ang problema sa Tiktok is wala naman tayong political ads na political ads na matatawag pero meron tayong mga private individuals na naglalabas ng mga political ads na ring matatawag,” Jimenez said.
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