TikTok told to step up drive vs misleading content amid China claim on Palawan

Manila Bulletin

1-Rider Party-list Rep. Rodge Gutierrez is prodding social media giant TikTok to implement proactive measures to curb disinformation or misleading content on its platform. (Video courtesy of House of Representatives)  READ: https://mb.com.ph/2025/3/23/tik-tok-told-to-step-up-drive-vs-misleading-content-amid-china-claim-on-palawan  Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5664f6TkaeHgwBly50DWZQ/join  Subscribe to the Manila Bulletin Online channel! - https://www.youtube.com/TheManilaBulletin  Visit our website at http://mb.com.ph Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/manilabulletin  Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/manila_bulletin Instagram: https://instagram.com/manilabulletin Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@manilabulletin  #ManilaBulletinOnline #ManilaBulletin #LatestNews

Transcript

00:30And then the second point would be on the alleged suppression of journalist postings

00:35regarding the West Philippine scene.

00:39Thank you, Mr. Chair.

00:41First of all, we're grateful to the Honorable Committee for having us today and giving us

00:46the opportunity to speak on behalf of TikTok.

00:50We do want to address the concerns of the Philippine Coast Guard and the Honorable Congressman

00:56here today.

01:00We do not allow misinformation that puts not just individuals at risk of harm, but we also

01:10do not allow misinformation that may cause societal harm.

01:16We have taken down posts in the past similar to these videos, citing territorial disputes,

01:24and we are happy to work with the Honorable Committee in securing links to these videos

01:31so we can endorse them to the appropriate teams within TikTok.

01:36We have already coordinated with the committee secretary to secure the links so that we can

01:42report them accordingly, because as I said earlier, we have taken action on similar posts

01:48in the past.

01:50And we'd like to be able to get the opportunity to send this content to our teams for review.

01:58Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, TikTok, for that response.

02:02So Mr. Chair, in relation to disinformation such as this or fake news, the action on TikTok

02:09is actually more on the reactionary.

02:13Mr. Chair, we also take proactive measures, especially around misinformation that could

02:18cause severe harm.

02:23Every video that is posted on the platform undergoes a quick review by our machine technology,

02:32by our technology moderation.

02:36And that initial pass, that initial sweep of the content, often studies signals for

02:46misinformation that could be harmful.

02:48Now, we also rely on our independent fact checkers who make an assessment on the accuracy

02:55of the information on the platform on certain kinds of content.

03:01And we also rely on community reports.

03:05So user reports also assist us in spotting misinformation that violate our community

03:10guidelines.

03:12Mr. Chair, sorry, let me just clarify a point.

03:14While I understand that there would be these measures, for example, that you've mentioned,

03:17these community moderators, and the review upon posting, this would be actually after

03:22the fact that the video is posted, correct?

03:25That's, Mr. Chair, incorrect, actually.

03:29Before a video is posted, if you notice, if anybody is familiar with the way that TikTok

03:34works, when you post a video, there's a processing time.

03:39That processing time is actually the period when the video undergoes technology moderation.

03:45Okay, so there's a, how much uptime would that be?

03:49I'm not familiar with TikTok.

03:52I don't have precise figures around that, Mr. Chair, but rest assured that every video

03:58goes through automatic technology moderation.

04:02So when it undergoes automatic technology moderation, when a video has been reported

04:06to be a source of fake news, generally, even if through a different user, there would be

04:11an attempt to repost the video, it should be flagged.

04:14Yes, sir.

04:16Let me get back to you on that, Mr. Chair, actually.

04:19But one thing that we would love to share to the Honorable Committee is that between

04:28July to September, I believe, during a period last year, we removed over 4 million videos

04:35that violated our community guidelines.

04:3899.5% of those videos were taken down proactively, and of the remaining percentage, 98% was taken

04:50down in less than 24 hours after being reported by users.

04:55So we're quite pleased to share that information with the Honorable Committee because we'd

05:04like to demonstrate that we are doing everything that we can in terms of our moderation practices

05:10to catch posts and to catch content that violate our community guidelines.

05:15Mr. Chair, most respectfully, while we laud the attempts, the measures being taken by

05:21TikTok in relation to this, and we appreciate the numbers that are being put forward, one

05:26issue that we have really is that anecdotally, that doesn't seem to be the case.

05:30For example, when we're talking about fake news in relation to China, when we see one

05:33video posted and it has been reported, we would see the same video posted by a different

05:37person.

05:38So that's why I wanted to ask if how do we ensure that the video that has been flagged

05:42for this information is not posted again?

05:44And quite frankly, perhaps we'd have to get a cold, hard evidence fund.

05:49I'd like to have a research person invited in this.

05:52But it tends to be that, well, once there is a narrative being taken by certain bad

05:57actors in relation to fake news and it's posted and they take it down, they just post it through

06:01another user.

06:02So I hope you'd understand the frustration that this committee would have in relation

06:08to the social media posts.

06:09And that's not even going into yet the issue of suppression that our journalists are facing

06:14in relation to the territorial dispute of the West Philippine Sea.

06:17So in relation to that, if we could move on, Ms. Padera, most respectfully to the Honorable

06:23Chairman, in relation to the suppression, what measures do we have, are we aware of

06:28this suppression of postings in relation to coverage of the West Philippine Sea?

06:33Thank you, Mr. Chair, for the question.

06:35We do not suppress any content that pertains to the West Philippine Sea.

06:43We welcome the diversity of political expression.

06:47And what we can share is that if a video is muted, there is a possibility that the content

06:59may have committed a violation of our guidelines, specifically perhaps around intellectual property.

07:08That kind of action, muting a video, is typically something that we do when there is an intellectual

07:15property violation.

07:17So we want to reassure the Honorable Committee that we do not silence voices that advocate

07:26for greater awareness on West Philippine Sea issues.

07:32Thank you, Mr. Chair.

07:33I guess we are forced to take that on face value, but as far as anecdotally, if I recall

07:40right, the video that was suppressed, I don't think there's an intellectual property issue.

07:44So as far as the coverage of the journalists having an altercation with the counterparts

07:48of China, there is no music playing.

07:50In fact, they are still murmuring.

07:52So Mr. Chair, I guess to advance this issue, we can ask the Honorable Comsec to, if we

08:00may, Commodore Tariella, if you could point us in the right direction, who are these journalists

08:05that were allegedly suppressed, we could probably invite them or communicate with them through

08:09the Committee Secretary.

08:10Then we can probably have them coordinate with TikTok, and we'll get to the bottom

08:16of this at a later hearing, because as it stands, it's going to be an anecdote versus

08:23general guidelines.

08:24So if we're going to get into the specifics, probably at a later time when the resource

08:28person would be available.

08:30Yes, Mr. Chair, and if I may, we're also happy to engage these personalities, these individuals

08:37from the press, to understand their experience.

08:44Our technology moderation is very sensitive around audio.

08:51And so even though two people might be speaking and just speaking, our moderation technology

08:59is able to pick up signals of background audio.

09:04And as I emphasized earlier, often when a video is muted, it's not because of the content.

09:12If content violates our guidelines, we take them down.

09:18If content violates intellectual property rights, quite frequently the action that is

09:27taken is to mute the audio.

09:30So we want to reassure the Honorable Committee of that.

09:34Thank you, Mr. Chair.

09:36So I guess we'll have to leave that to the discussion at a later time when we have the

09:40resource persons available.

09:41So Mr. Chair, I understand my time is up.

09:43I had more questions for TikTok, but I'll probably reserve it for the second round.

09:46With that, Mr. Chair, I yield the floor.

09:47Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

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