By Robert B. Roque Jr.
“It’s frustrating.” That’s how San Miguel Corp. (SMC) big boss Ramon S. Ang (RSA) pictured himself upon seeing a deepfake video using his interview with Anthony Taberna to peddle an investment scam: $250 for a “guaranteed return” of $1,500.
The doctored video clip is a dead giveaway — I mean, what kind of person would have his lips floating under his nose while he speaks??? And yet, Meta — for all its algorithmic wisdom, and despite receiving reports it is a deepfake — has not taken the malicious ad down.
In fact, when it is reported, the response you would get is that this obvious fraud — perhaps, because it is a paid and likely boosted ad — “does not violate our community standards.”
That means, never mind that it is a blatant scam surely designed to swindle people out of their hard-earned money. Never mind that it ran as a paid, sponsored ad, actively pushed to reach millions!
This is the consequence if it’s true that Meta cut off its staff of fact-checkers and now relies almost entirely on automated responses when complaints are reported. At least, that’s what I heard – fact-check me please, Facebook, if this information is wrong.
Human absence in fact-checking is bound to become Meta’s failure by over-reliance on AI-driven responses. This would result in making the platform a real hotbed for scams, Mr. Mark Zuckerberg.
I predict this is where Facebook will wear down its rabid Filipino and international users as it allows itself to lose its edge. Human absence in handling these cases means a loss of human discernment when it comes to detecting deceit.
RSA himself has called out the danger of these scams. Perhaps, Mr. Zuckerberg can learn a bit or two from a fellow CEO and act to take meaningful steps in his Meta to arrest the proliferation of these scams in his cyber wonderland.
This isn’t about free speech; it’s about platform responsibility. If Meta can’t clean up its own back yard, maybe regulators should start forcing them to.
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