Philippines vs fake news: An unsolicited idea

In the Philippines, there are multiple ideas on how to stop the spread of fake news.

- By PROFESSOR ROM FERIA

Two popular ideas on the internet are: (1) creating a registry of content creators, and (2) having the government control social media companies. Let's look at these ideas, and propose one to help limit the spread of fake news in the country.

Content Creator Registry

First, what makes someone a content creator? If just having a certain number of subscribers or followers makes one a content creator, then that's silly. The number of subscribers doesn't really tell us how many people are seeing a content creator's posts. A blogger with their own blog can have millions of readers without any subscribers. And anyone with an internet connection could be a content creator, so when would they need to register? I wonder how the government defines a content creator.

Speaking of a registry, which agency would be in charge? Will it be like the SIM card registry, where people can't change or delete their records? And not only that, this registry could be easily tricked like the SIM card registry!