Palace to Officials: Stop spreading AI-generated fake news

Malacañang has warned elected government officials against sharing content that could misinform the public, following reports that Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa and Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte shared videos believed to be generated by artificial intelligence (AI).

The video in question features youth members expressing opinions about the ongoing impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte. It quickly went viral, sparking concerns over the use of AI in political discourse.

According to Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro, it is especially problematic when government officials themselves are the ones spreading misleading or inauthentic material.

“Sharing things like that — disinformation, fake news — should not come from government officials,” Castro said. “It is suspicious and erodes [public] trust even more when disinformation comes from high-ranking officials.”

Castro commended vigilant social media users who flagged the content as AI-generated, saying their quick action helped the government’s efforts against disinformation, which is being led by the Presidential Communications Office (PCO).

“Even the PCO and the government are working to stop fake news, but we can do it better if we help each other,” she said.

“As you said, you, yourself and other of our countrymen have said that this (video) is AI-generated and not true. So, thank you very much for helping the government so that we can detect fake news that is sometimes created by government officials,” she added.

While the video touches on a real political issue, Castro stressed that its AI-generated nature renders it illegitimate.

“If this is from fake news or AI-generated, then we cannot say that this issue is legitimate or illegitimate,” she said.

Apology needed?

Castro said an apology is not required from Dela Rosa and Duterte — if they had genuinely believed the video to be credible at the time they shared it.

“First of all, there is no need to apologize if they just used their intelligence to determine if what they are sharing is wrong, disinformation or just AI-generated videos. There is no need to apologize if what you did was right in the first place. But now that it has been spread, how can others believe them considering that the people voted for them? So, now that they have done it, and there is nothing we can do about it, they should just acknowledge that the video they shared is not true and not authentic,” she said.

Bato defends actions

Senator Dela Rosa, for his part, defended himself against online criticism, saying the content of the video still made a valid point, regardless of whether it was created by AI.

“The point is very clear and I agree with that point,” he said.

He also lashed out at critics, calling them trolls.

“The trolls think they can influence Filipinos to take their side. Ha ha ha, you fools!” he said. “Help, neighbors! I’m being attacked by yellow and communist trolls! Don’t help by fighting, just help by laughing.”

VP sees nothing wrong

Vice President Sara Duterte, meanwhile, said she saw nothing wrong with the use of AI in producing pro-Duterte videos, as long as no profit is being made.

“If I create an AI to support a certain personality, there's no problem with that because I'm not making it a business, I'm not selling it to people,” she said.

As of writing, the video has garnered 7.7 million views, more than 20,000 comments, 69,000 shares on Facebook.