Napolcom Pushes for Law Against Social Media Dummy Accounts Amid School Incidents

The National Police Commission (Napolcom) is pushing for legislation to hold social media users accountable for their posts, even when they use fake names, amid a rise in school incidents nationwide. "I really hope that we can look into and focus on measures for social media to make people more accountable for what they post, even though they hide behind fake names," Napolcom Commissioner and Vice Chair and Executive Officer (VCEO) Rafael Vicente R. Calinisan told reporters in a press briefing. "I really hope that we can enact laws, coordinate and partner with these social media platforms so that those who sown nefarious acts are held accountable," he added. According to Mr. Calinisan, much of the violence and hate published across social media accounts is created by accounts that hide behind fake names. "They change their names purposely, lots of trolls, they lambast people left and right, call them names, act violently without any accountability," he said. "They think that by changing their names, they can say anything they want." A 2020 survey commissioned by cybersecurity firm Kaspersky found that three out of 10 users in the Asia Pacific have admitted to having a social media profile with fake names and photos. Southeast Asia accounts for 35% of the dummy accounts, followed by South Asia at 28%, and Australia at 20%. Facebook has the highest prevalence of dummy accounts at 70%, followed by YouTube at 37%, Instagram at 33%, and Twitter (X) at 25%. As more accounts hide behind anonymity to perpetuate threats and hatred towards others, the Napolcom official said that children tend to normalize and adopt such behavior both online and in person. "Children see that growing up, now they see in their cellphones that it's okay to bully others online," he said in mixed English and Filipino. "That breeds hate and violence. And that, in a way, is related to what we saw in Tacloban." "We have to be mindful of that. Protect the learners. We need to protect the young ones so that they will not grow up to be troublesome," he added. Apart from the school shooting in Tacloban City, the Department of Education (DepEd) had also reported 14 other school incidents and threats from June 16 to July 6. At least 32 students were wounded, while three others died over the three-week span. — Almira Louise S. Martinez