Rep. Castro asks Meta to restore her Facebook pages
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MANILA, Philippines — Makabayan senatorial candidate and ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro has demanded Meta to restore her Facebook pages after the latter unpublished them and restricted the personal accounts of the pages’ administrators.
Castro revealed that her first official Facebook page was unpublished last February 16, while the second was also unpublished on March 15, calling these acts “a form of digital censorship and an attack on freedom of expression.”
“This is a clear case of digital harassment and censorship. Meta is systematically silencing progressive voices that speak truth to power,” the lawmaker said in a statement on Monday.
READ: Castro’s group cries ‘repression’ as Meta suspends her FB page
“Ang aking Facebook page ay ginagamit para maghatid ng mahahalagang impormasyon sa ating mga kababayan, lalo na sa mga guro at kawani ng edukasyon. Ito ay plataporma para sa demokratikong diskurso at pagpapahayag ng mga hinaing ng mga marginalized sectors,” she added.
(It is a platform for democratic discourse and expression of grievances of marginalized sectors.)
According to Castro, the pages suffered “intermittent accessibility, appearing briefly before being unpublished again.”
She also pointed out that Meta did not provide any “substantial explanation” as to why her pages were unpublished.
“We demand that META immediately restore our pages and the accounts of our administrators. We also call for transparency in their content moderation policies and appeal procedures. Hindi kami magpapatahimik (We will not be silenced),” the lawmaker stressed.
Former ACT Teachers Partylist Representative and current nominee Antonio Tinio said this is not the first time this happened to progressive organizations and individuals.
“Digital platforms like Facebook have become essential public spaces for discourse, and META has the responsibility to uphold free speech, not suppress it. Nakakabahala na sa panahon ng fake news at disinformation, ang lehitimong boses ng mga progresibong mambabatas at organisasyon ang siyang pinapatahimik,” he noted.
(It is worrying that in an era of fake news and disinformation, the legitimate voices of progressive lawmakers and organizations are being silenced.)
In line with this, Castro plans to raise the issue in Congress in a bid to “explore legal remedies against arbitrary and politically motivated censorship by the social media giant.”
