Sen. Grace Poe: Can you block a particular company like Facebook from being accessed in the Philippi

The title of this blog above is the exact quote from Grace Poe that she directed at a law expert during the Senate hearing on Fake News.

She denied reports that she had proposed to ban Facebook use in the Philippines. She is right as per her words (her actual quote -- the title of this post) that I've read in several news bleeps. I will give her that. BUT ... and it's a big 'BUT' ... it is hard to say that she wasn't really thinking about it. Who is to say what was really on her mind at the time she said those words?

What if the law expert responded with a 'Yes' to her question? What could she have said next? She said her intention in asking that question was to “encourage Facebook to be able to cooperate with us.” (That was a quote from the senator as reported in several news articles.) What was she trying to say -- that her question was a subtle threat to Facebook (like what China is doing, according to her) that the Senate could come up with a plan to shut FB down if they do not cooperate? The internet has no borders, in case the senator failed to notice. Nobody owns the internet so how can you prevent people from going into the net or FB to surf? Poe also asked the law expert about the extent of the government’s reach in blocking hate speech and expressions online that border on criminal liability. Again, the senator was talking about "blocking". Isn't that an indication that she was really entertaining the idea of blocking whatever? Isn't hate speech and expression protected by our freedom of self-expression or freedom of speech? Poe said that the social media giant failed to address offensive speech. FB doesn't block offensive speech because they believe in free speech. Beside, FB already has a policy on hate speech (the senator should really do some research first before starting an investigation), even though there is no universally accepted definition of hate speech. This is a quote from Facebook regarding their definition and policy on hate speech:

"... we define the term (hate speech) to mean direct and serious attacks on any protected category of people based on their race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, disability or disease. We work hard to remove hate speech quickly, however there are instances of offensive content, including distasteful humor, that are not hate speech according to our definition. In these cases, we work to apply fair, thoughtful, and scalable policies. This approach allows us to continue defending the principles of freedom of self-expression on which Facebook is founded. We’ve also found that posting insensitive or cruel content often results in many more people denouncing it than supporting it on Facebook. That being said, we realize that our defense of freedom of expression should never be interpreted as license to bully, harass, abuse or threaten violence."

"Facebook removes hate speech, which includes content that directly attacks people based on their:

• Race,

• Ethnicity,

• National origin,

• Religious affiliation,

• Sexual orientation, Sex, gender, or gender identity, or

• Serious disabilities or diseases.

Organizations and people dedicated to promoting hatred against these protected groups are not allowed a presence on Facebook."

Having said all of the above, the Fake News meme (the photo above) that the yellows & possibly the senator might consider it as may not be that at all. It could just be a speculative type of meme.

Now that she asked that question, Sen. Poe might still deny that she is really interested in blocking FB in the Philippines but to cynics, doubters and critics of Poe, her words exposed some intent. No one can prevent anyone, specially the pro-Duterte/BBM people, from thinking that indeed she was very keen on blocking FB in the country when she engaged a long exchange with resource persons who are cyber experts and kept on asking details about blocking FB in the Philippines. She was in fact concentrating on FB and I cannot recall her interest on Twitter & Instagram. Apparently, some of Poe's people, or perhaps fans who voted for her & maybe some yellows, immediately informed her that many Filipinos were not happy with what she said in the Senate hearing and that many FB bloggers were very busy slamming her. The backlash was too much. Poe simply cannot afford to backtrack from her statements that caused her fall from grace. She had to do some damage control & backpedaling. Maybe she entertained the idea that such careless pronouncement will favor her and that would spell popular votes from the public. Grace had no choice but to deny that she is interested in blocking FB and now labeling the whole thing as fake news. When you use those two words (FAKE NEWS) you are begging for attention & appeal to people's emotions. Cheapepay, I think. Those words are very popular these days. With those two words, she just might get off the hook. But for me, I'm not buying it. I think it's REAL NEWS. And I think there are many of us who think the same way. The Senate is better advised to dispense of this useless exercise called fake news hearing because Grace Poe is just making a fool of herself. People are already branding her a YELLOW and a traPOE. She never said anything against RAPPLER but she complained against Facebook. That won't earn her big votes when she runs again. That hearing is an utter joke in my book. Nothing can be done when the Bill of Rights is very clear on "FREEDOM OF SPEECH." Block anything in the Philippines and people will just connect through a VPN or proxy in another country and still get access. Ideas are firewall-proof. Now, who is being a dictator?

I just found out who defended Poe in the Supreme Court during her disqualification case (the issue of her citizenship). It was, of all people, Aquino’s Solicitor General Florin Hilbay, who is supposed to only defend government agencies and not individuals. I can't help but suspect that Poe is a real yellow politician masquerading as fair-minded non-partisan or independent political operative. What a disappointment!