MANILA — The Philippine government is now studying whether people who spread "fake news" or disinformation and misinformation can be classified as cyber terrorists, similar to what is done in other countries.

Presidential Communications Office Secretary Jay Ruiz said there is an ongoing study on whether they will move towards that direction, especially with what he calls a plague of disinformation now happening. He clarified however, that this will only apply to fake news peddlers whose posts affect national security or bigger issues that could affect the public.

“Pinag-iisipan po namin ng DICT na ihanay sa mga cyber terrorist yung mga ganyang nagpapakalat ng sobrang masamang impormasyon sa utak ng ating mga kababayan,” he said.

This comes as Ruiz led the opening of the Threat Monitoring Center of the Commission on Elections with the help of various agencies, including the Department of Information and Communications Technology.

Comelec Commissioner Nelson Celis warned fake news peddlers that they have a way to check and determine the origin of fake news and that there is a prison sentence of up to 6 years for those proven guilty of spreading lies online.

“Pagna-trace kayo mga troll farm kayo, mag-ingat kayo, magtago na kayo, umalis na kayo ng bansa dahil election offense po yan. One year ang pinakamababa, six years max. Matrace namin sino yung origin hanggang kumakalat. Meron kaming tools at ma trace naming troll farms niyo,” said Celis.

However, officials also warned that one of the biggest threats is misinformation and disinformation coming from other countries or based overseas. They have monitored some of these cases and urged the public not to believe immediately in any social media posts from unknown or suspicious accounts.

“Isa pang nakakabahalang kumakalat na balita sa Reuters tungkol sa mga foreign companies, mga nasa ibang bansa na nag mamanipulate ditto sa darating na halalan,” Ruiz said.

DICT Asec. Aboy Paraiso added, “When you see fake news, we have tools to see where they came from and it’s outside interference that really hampers, threatens these elections.”

Officials now urge the public to be vigilant as fake news posts are rampant, both election-related and not.