Google said that it is on the lookout for content that contribute to the spread of false information in the Philippines amid the campaign season of #Halalan2025.
Yves Gonzalez, the Google Philippines Public Policy and Government Relations Head, reported that they are expecting the rise of searches about “politics,” which is one of the popular topics Filipino associate with “fake news.”
“As we prepare for the campaign season, starting today, definitely we expect na dadami nanaman ‘yung incidents natin na either nag-sesearch about ‘fake news’ or nagkakalat ng misinformation,” Gonzalez told reporters after Google’s Safer Internet Celebration 2025, held at the Google Philippines’ headquarters in Taguig City.
In the recently released Google Trends Data 2024, the Philippines was ranked as top country searching for “misinformation” and “fake news”—a trend that shows the increasing interest of Filipinos in media literacy.
Gonzalez said that they have been working closely with the Commission on Elections, by providing workshops with political parties and candidates on securing their Google accounts, using their YouTube platforms effectively, and more.
Moreover, Gonzalez used the breaking news shelf feature in YouTube, which helps viewers to see information from authoritative channels first.
“Pangalawa, of course, is to really remove or reduce ‘yung mga sources na hindi dapat makita sa YouTube,” He said.
Furthermore, the Google official said that they will be removing content that violate their election misinformation policy.
“Kunwari sinabi mo ‘Bumoto tayo sa Mayo a-uno!’ So, ‘yun! that’s definitely against our misinformation policy kasi sa May 12 ang elections,” He said.
“We have to be very vigilant na matanggal ‘yung mga content na nagviviolate ng ating mga misinformation policy, specifcally on the elections.”
In celebration of the #SaferInternet this year, the tech giant also launched the Enhanced Google Play Protect, an upgraded security feature for Android mobile users against malicious apps.
It gives a real-time scan to protect users from the risks of sideloaded apps. The design identifies apps that use AI-powered evasion techniques to scam users downloading apps outside Google.
The feature was initially brought to India, Thailand, Singapore, and Brazil for pilot testing before bringing it to the Philippines.
Google’s report showed that it has already blocked 3.2 million download attempts as of February 10, which they summated to 3.2 million pesos saved if every loss was equivalent to one peso.
“We all acknowledge that financial scams are a big and growing problem in the Philippines. So, ‘yun yung tina-target natin na ma-block natin para nga mabawasan natin ‘yung nawalang personal information and even ‘yung money from our users,” Gonzalez said.
