MANILA, FEBRUARY 20, 2013 – Along with social networking sites’ elevated position as a public forum for critical issues, such as the 2013 Philippine senatorial elections, comes questions about online campaigning. What is allowed and what is deemed inappropriate?
The Internet and Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines (IMMAP) discussed the Do’s and Don’ts of Comelec Rules on Online Campaigning in its first Breaking in the Morning session on Wednesday, February 20 at the Old Swiss Inn, Makati City.
The law in question is Resolution 9615 which stops short of complete regulation of all online election-related activities but its provisions on direct on-line advertising represent a significant expansion of the COMELEC’s campaign finance monitoring coverage.
In light of last year’s cybercrime law trifle, one of the top issues is whether personal opinion expressed in social networking sites by way of a comment or post can be considered a no-no.
The Resolution covers this in section 1 which indicates: “Personal opinions, views, and preferences for candidates, contained in blogs shall not be considered acts of election campaigning or partisan political activity unless expressed by government officials in the Executive Department, the Legislative Department, the Judiciary, the Constitutional Commissions, and members of the Civil Service.”
James Jimenez, education and information division head at the COMELEC, said,”It would be practically impossible to police all blogs and micro-blogs searching for partisan political activity. By defining which blogs – by ownership / authorship – are covered by the definition of “campaigning” we limit the scope of needed monitoring while also reinforcing the prohibition against partisan political activity among members of the Civil Service.”
Political advertising
Political advertising on the Internet is defined in the resolution as “…matters, not falling within the scope of personal opinion, that appear on any Internet website, including, but not limited to, social networks, blogging sites, and micro-blogging sites, in return for consideration, or otherwise capable of pecuniary estimation.”
The formulation refers to both paid-for and donated advertisements that appear on websites, including blogs, which covers, blogs, collective blogs, and micro-blogs.
But the nature of these blogs can see the proliferation of seeded posts disguising as an individual’s opinion. To this, Atty Rejie Jularbal, legal counsel of the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas (KBP), draws the line.
Seeded posts involve a lot of hidden money so the blog will definitely be monitored, Jularbal said. A blog that contains only promotional posts about the political candidate will make it to the COMELEC’s suspect list until proven otherwise.
The proof of burden that a blog or post is not a backhanded effort by the political candidate is put the candidate himself. Just like print, outdoor or broadcast campaign efforts, digital campaigns will also demand analogous records or logs to monitor his/her online activities. “The COMELEC will always err on the side of personal opinion in these matters,” Jularbal said.
As for Facebook posts, the rules are a bit lenient. Repercussions that apply to the dubious websites and blogs do not apply to social networking sites, Jimenez said. “But we do monitor them.”
“Rules are not in their final form,” Carlo Ople, IMMAP director and managing partner of Di9it, said. “Social media is exploding and with the 2016 presidential elections around the corner, we have to get a feel for the rules.”
For more information about the rules, click on the following links:
Sponsor
