An illustration shows a scammer in a hoodie working on a computer. —Image by Dannie Agacer
MANILA, Philippines — A broad front of journalists, academics, civil society groups, and professionals is forming to oppose proposed legislation on disinformation. They say that efforts to curb disinformation on social media could end up worsening the problem rather than solving it.
On the weekend before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s penultimate State of the Nation Address (Sona) before Congress, about 50 journalists, tech and related companies and advocacies, the academe, and civil society gathered Saturday, July 25, at the University of the Philippines’ College of Media and Communication to line up action plans to oppose the legislation which, at the current form, includes imprisonment and government takedown powers of social media posts, roundtable discussion organizers said.
House Bill No. 9465, authored by Ilocos Sur Rep. Sandro Marcos and several others, is awaiting movement of the counterpart proposal in the Senate, which held a hearing on Feb. 11, 2026, under the Committee on Media and Information, then chaired by Sen. Robinhood Padilla.
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