Palace questions Facebook's choice of Rappler, Vera Files as fact-checkers

MANILA, Philippines — While it lauded Facebook’s fact checking initiative to weed out misleading content and false information, Malacañang raised questions on the fairness of the media outlets tapped as fact-checkers.

In a press briefing Monday, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said that the fact-checking program of the world’s largest social network is the “solution” to the problem of so-called fake news, not legislation.

He, however, said he sympathizes with Facebook users who are unhappy with Facebook’s third-party fact-checking partnership with Rappler and Vera Files.

The two media outlets will review news stories on Facebook that have been flagged as dubious. The media outlets will check the facts of the flagged stories and rate their accuracy.

Facebook points out on a press release that Rappler and Vera Files "have both been certified through a non-partisan International Fact-Checking Network."

Roque said, however, that "there are those who are complaining who said that the chosen ‘police of truth,’ so to speak, are sometimes partisan themselves. That is the problem with truth. It can be subjective depending on your political perspective," Roque said.

He added: “There should be a more partial arbiter of truth.”

The president’s mouthpiece then urged disgruntled Facebook users “to make their wishes known to Facebook.”

Over the weekend, Facebook started blocking some pro-Duterte websites that are suspected of peddling fake news.

This prompted several supporters of the administration to migrate to Russian social media platform VK.

READ: Facebook blocks pro-Duterte websites suspected of spreading fake news