REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
Third Regular Session

House BiltNo,_ 8341

Introduced by MAGDADO Party-List Representative
HON. GARY C. ALEJANO

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Fake news is a type of yellow journalism or propaganda that consists of deliberate
disinformation or hoaxes spread via traditional print and broadcast news media or online social
media. The false information is then often reverberated as misinformation in social media, but
‘occasionally finds its way to the mainstream media as well. Fake news is written and published with
the intent to mislead in order to damage an agency, entity, or person, and/or gain financially or
Politically, often using sensationalist, dishonest, or outright fabricated headlines to increase
readership, online sharing, and Internet click revenue. In the latter case, it is similar to sensational
online "clickbait"” headlines and relies on advertising revenue generated from this activity,
regardless of the veracity of the published stories. Intentionally misleading and deceptive fake news
differs from obvious satire or parody, which is intended to amuse rather than mislead its audience.

This phenomenon has been one of the most hotly-debated socio-political topics of recent
years, Websites which deliberately published hoaxes and misleading information pgpfped up across
the internet and were often shared on social media to increase their reach. As a result, Filipinos have
become wary of the information that they read online, with some stating that they rarely trusted the
news that they read on social media,

The relevance of fake news has increased in post-truth politics. For media outlets, the ability
to attract viewers to their websites is necessary to generate online advertising revenue. If publishing
a story with false content attracts users, this benefits advertisers and improves ratings. Easy access
to online advertisement revenue, increased political polarization, and the popularity of social media,
primarily the Facebook News Feed, have all been implicated in the spread of fake news, which
competes with legitimate news stories. Hostile government actors have also been implicated in
generating and propagating fake news, particularly during elections

These realities urged this representation to propose a measure that shall instill in our youth,
the value of honesty and responsibility in the use of social media, without curtailing the often-
sensitive topic of the right to free speech. Through education, social media awareness of our people
will hopefully improve when the youth of our nation take the reins of this country from us in the
near future.

In view of the foregoing, approval of this bill is earnestly sought.



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REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
‘Third Regular Session

House Bill No. 8341

Introduced by MAGDALO Party-List Representative
HON. GARY C. ALEJANO

AN ACT
INCORPORATING THE VALUE OF RESPONSIBLE, FAIR, AND TRUTHFUL USAGE
AND ENJOYMENT OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES, AND FOR
OTHER PURPOSES

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled,

SECTION 1. Short Title.—This Act shall be known as the “Social Media Awareness
Education Act.”

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy.—The State has constitutionally-declared policies to serve
and protect the people, to give priority to education to foster patriotism and nationalism and to
recognize the vital role of communication and information in nation-building. Towards this end, it
is the objective of this Act to cope with the mercurial rise of the influence and prevalence of use of
social media by inculcating onto the youth and/or students the virtues of discernment and critical-
thinking in their unavoidable daily immersion in social media.

SEC. 3. Inclusion of Social Media in the Curricula for Primary and Secondary
Education.—Social media awareness shall be part of the curriculum for both primary and
secondary education, in public and private schools, with the following objectives:

a. Inculeate how various types of social media aid in the effective and efficient
dissemination of information;

b. Inculeate how social media helps in shaping public discourse and opinion;
c. Inculeate how social media helps in fostering a more participative democracy;

d. Inculcate the importance of upholding truth and the veracity of facts, figures, and
events in social media;

¢. Inculcate responsible and fair use of social media; and

£ Inculcate the virtues of discernment and critical-thinking in the use and/or enjoyment
of social media.


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‘The Department of Education (DepEd), in consultation with the Department of Information
and Communications Technology (DICT), shall immediately formulate the necessary steps and
measures to achieve the objectives of this section.

SEC. 4. Social Media Awareness as part of the National Service Training Program
(NSTP).—Social media awareness must be made part of the National Service Training Program
(NSTP), particularly in the service components pertaining to the Literacy Training Service (LTS)
and the Civic Welfare Training Service (CWTS).

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Technical Education and Skills
Development Authority (TESDA), in consultation with the DICT, shall immediately formulate the
necessary steps and measures to achieve the objectives of this section.

SEC. 5. Contribution of the Private Sector in Social Media Awareness.—Private
corporations must formulate and implement effective measures and/or policies in relation to the
responsible, fair, and truthful utilization and/or enjoyment of various types of social media. Private
corporations must likewise promote the foregoing as part of their respective Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR).

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), in consultation with the DICT, shall
immediately formulate the necessary steps and measures to achieve the objectives of this section.

SEC. 6. Implementing Rules and Regulations.—The DepEd, CHED, SEC, in consultation
with the DICT, shall have the joint responsibility for the adoption of the implementing rules of this,
Act within sixty (60) days from the approval of this Act

SEC. 7. Repealing Clause.—All laws, decrees, executive orders or parts thereof
inconsistent with the provisions of this Act is hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

SEC. 8. Separability Clause.—If any part or provision of this Act is declared invalid or
unconstitutional, the other parts not otherwise affected shall remain in full effect and force.

SEC. 9. Effectivity.—This Act shall take effect fifteen days after its complete publication in
at least two newspapers of general publication

Approved,