Palace exec wants troll armies penalized

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March 1, 2025 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — To stop the proliferation of fake news, a Palace official wants online trolling to be considered a criminal act.

Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro said that while cybercrime is punishable under Republic Act 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, there is no law that penalizes those proven to be part of troll armies.

“So it is really necessary to have a law regarding troll armies. It should have a penalty. This should be considered a criminal act because, as I said, it is like a syndicate,” Castro said in a television interview on Thursday.

“I hope our country also has a law to regulate it so that we can really see the true identities of these social media influencers or content creators,” she added.

Castro said the PCO is open to partnering with the Department of Information and Communications Technology to intensify the campaign against fake news.

She said the agency would also support measures to be filed in the next Congress that would increase the penalties against fake news peddlers.

Castro earlier said Malacañang would support a measure defining and banning fake news.

“What’s the limitation? How can they gauge that statements will be considered fake news?” she said.

Former Senate president Vicente Sotto III, who is part of the administration-backed coalition Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas, earlier said one of the first bills he wants to file is a measure penalizing fake news.

At a recent House of Representatives’ committee hearing on the proliferation of fake news, Castro suggested requiring all content creators to register.