Ombudsman pursues ‘take down’ of misleading social media posts
The Office of the Ombudsman said that it would be communicating with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and other concerned social media platforms in order to take down misleading online posts regarding their pending cases at the Sandiganbayan.
In a press briefing on Friday, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla expressed his concern over the “fake news” that was being spread through platforms like Facebook, highlighting the effect that such information had on public perception towards their office.
Remulla said that the attacks had gone as far as dwelling on his current health status due to his previous battle with leukemia, maintaining that he had been cancer-free for three years.
“There’s been a lot of fake news lately. There’s been an effect, I mean people are trying to create doubt about the office or maybe even the state of my health, and I think this has to be stopped,” he stressed.
Further dwelling into the health claims, he later admitted that he became increasingly concerned after his long-time friends began contacting him to wish him well regarding his medical condition.
The Ombudsman explained that social media was being used as a tool by their detractors, particularly for those supporting officials that were being prosecuted at the anti-graft court.
It was further disclosed that their office had already tracked several accounts, including a certain “Juan Luna Blog,” which were deceiving the public through providing active commentary on the ongoing hearings.
Remulla explicitly cited the case of former House Speaker Martin Romualdez, wherein individuals were attempting to condition the minds of the public in favor of the lawmaker.
“Hopefully the Sandiganbayan is listening because this Juan Luna Blog is actually commenting actively on the Martin Romualdez case. It’s propaganda for his case actually. They want bail and they’re trying to change the narrative,” he said.
Remulla further said that while freedom of speech was a privilege granted under the Constitution, there was a need to exhibit fairness in releasing information publicly.
“It’s really a careless use of a very powerful medium. Careless or indecent use,” the Ombudsman stated.