Sotto website hacked over anti-cybercrime law

The website of Senate majority leader Vicente Sotto III was defaced early Tuesday, with the hackers calling on him to revise the Anti-Cybercrime Act of 2012. Visitors to Sotto's website, www.titosotto.com, were greeted with a message from "Anonymous Philippines". "It's been a long time, Tito Sen! Deny us our freedom of speech and of expression through R.A. 10175, and we will deny you your cyberspace. You cannot shut us up, you cannot shut us down," the message read. Republic Act 10175 is the controversial Anti-Cybercrime Law, which defines and penalizes several Internet-related offenses. Many groups had opposed the law over what they called vague, yet repressive provisions that call for jail penalties.  Among these provisions in an online libel entry, which Sotto had been criticized for introducing. "And you shall not see us rest until R.A. 10175 is revised ... We are all waiting, we are all ready," the hackers said, "Protect our Right to Freedom of Expression!" Tuesday's defacement came a week before the Supreme Court was to hold hearings on the law. Last year, the high court suspended the implementation of the law amid protests against it. The protests included those from hacker groups, which defaced many Philippine government sites. But the hacker groups stopped the attacks after learning one of the attacked sites was providing important information on cyclones. — DVM, GMA News