GOOGLE Philippines is “on alert” against forms of election misinformation, especially artificial intelligence (AI)-generated content and deepfakes.
“This is our first election where generative AI is mainstream. So, from this midterm election, we will learn a lot of lessons to prepare us for the presidential elections in 2028,” Yves Gonzalez, Google Philippines public policy and government relations head, said on the sidelines of a briefing on Feb. 11.
“We will definitely be on alert for these coming elections… and we will overcome the challenges by working closely with government, our users, and using (our) technology.”
According to Google’s latest Trends Data Report, the Philippines was the top country searching for “misinformation” and “fake news,” signaling growing interest in media literacy.
“For 2025, our biggest concerns are AI-generated misinformation, deepfakes. In a sense, the landscape, threats, technology are evolving, so us at Google, we also have to continue to evolve and level up ourselves,” he said in mixed English and Filipino.
Mr. Gonzalez added that YouTube’s Community Guidelines are well equipped to detect election misinformation.
The video-sharing platform mandates creators to label videos that use AI, and its own system can also detect and label AI-generated videos. Its SynthID provides a watermark for content generated through Google’s AI tools, the official said.
YouTube users can also report videos or channels with policy violations such as misleading information, hate speech, and violent or graphic content.
Confirmed violations may result in a warning, and if YouTube detects three consistent violations within a 90-day period, the channel may permanently be removed.
“But YouTube being a free speech platform, there will always be mudslinging, disagreements, allegations. So, as much as possible, YouTube will allow the free flow of discourse and discussion,” Mr. Gonzalez told reporters.
“It’s only when there is content that is violative of community guidelines that we will take it down,” he said.
YouTube’s Breaking News shelf also prioritizes authoritative news sources to avoid election misinformation, Mr. Gonzalez added.
Google has also been working with the Commission on Elections, recently conducting a literacy workshop with political parties and candidates on securing their Google accounts and using their YouTube channels effectively. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz
