By Ruth Abbey Gita-Carlos
MANILA – The Presidential Communications Office (PCO) and the Cybercrime Investigation Coordinating Center (CICC) on Thursday signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) aimed at beefing up the government’s fight against fake news and scam activities.
Under the MOA, the PCO and the CICC agreed to recognize the Inter-Agency Response Center (I-ARC) Hotline 1326 as the national anti-scam hotline and promote the eGOVPH application’s e-Report function for scam reporting, PCO Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said in a press briefing.
Castro said there would also be collaboration for anti-scam and deepfake education campaigns, adding that vital news would be included in the eGOVPH.
“Sa ganitong paraan ay matutulungan ang mga Pilipino na maiwasan ma-scam at malabanan ang paglipana ng fake news (This way, Filipinos can be helped to avoid scams and combat the spread of fake news),” she told Palace reporters.
Task force, app vs. deepfakes
CICC Executive Director Undersecretary Alexander Ramos said a national task force would be created and an artificial intelligence (AI) application would be used to intensify the government’s campaign against misinformation and disinformation, especially amid the rise of deepfakes.
In the same briefing, Ramos said the National Deepfake Task Force would be led by the PCO, while the AI tool would be used for free to stop the proliferation of deepfake contents.
Ramos said around PHP2 million would be allotted for the “regionalized” software that would be purchased from a foreign developer.
This, as he noted that in the last few weeks, around 200 deepfake cases were reported to the CICC.
“Masyadong bastardized na ang ating social media (Our social media is now bastardized) and we have to address it. And this is one of the concrete actions we’re taking,” Ramos said.
“We would also want to have the support of the civil society initiatives by empowering civil society organizations working on media literacy, fact-checking and combating disinformation. Last month, we tested our tool that will be distribute to the stakeholders. Ito ho ay isang tool na within 30 seconds puwede ninyo na ma-identify ang deepfake content (Within 30 seconds, this tool can identify a deepfake content),” he added.
Ramos said accreditation process is underway for the use of the anti-deepfake application, adding that there would also be trainings on how to use the tool.
“It’s an application that we are giving out to accredited partners. Ano ho ‘to, wala ho tayong pinipili (The government won’t be selective), that’s why we target independent fact-checkers. Hindi ho gobyerno ang magsasabi, iyong community mismo magsasabi (It’s not the government but the community that will say this is a deepfake),” he said. (PNA)
