WATCH: Meta, COMELEC’s ‘Be W.A.I.S.’ digital literacy video

The company formerly known as Facebook, Meta, in partnership with the Commisson on Elections (Comelec) and the Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE) on Thursday, November 25, published a video reminding social media users to not immediately share posts out of an initial emotional reaction.

The video makes use of the W.A.I.S. acronym, which stands for “Wait muna,” “Alamin ang buong kuwento,” “I-check kung fact,” and “Share kung verified.”

Facebook Philippines said it’s part of a series of initiatives in light of the upcoming May 2022 Philippine elections. This includes a voter registration campaign on the platform that ran from September 23 to 29, and October 26 to 29 on the Facebook app, and received over 10 million clicks. The campaign led people to information on how and where to register in Comelec partners’ websites, Vote Pilipinas and Magparehistro ka.

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said that the campaign was helpful. During the voter registration campaign period, the Comelec received “over 1.9 million registration applications, more than double the daily average of registrations we received before the campaign,” Jimenez said.

Facebook also said it is holding ongoing training for Comelec personnel and officials on digital security, online safety ,and how they can use Facebook and Instagram tools for their voter education initiatives.

Facebook Philippines head of public policy Clare Amador said, “We’re working closely with COMELEC and our partners from civil society, and
we will make further announcements on our election efforts in the lead up to next year’s vote.” – Rappler.com