Bill to ensure quality Internet connection filed at House

A bill protecting the rights of Internet users, such as the right to a quality connection, has been filed at the House of Representatives. Kabataan party-list Rep. Raymond Palatino on Tuesday pushed for House Bill (H.B.) 6818 or the Internet Freedom bill, which he filed last Thursday. The bill was filed at the height of oral arguments in the Supreme Court on the Anti-Cybercrime Law, whose legality was questioned by various groups due to its supposedly restrictive provisions. Palatino said the bill he filed is an attempt to make the Internet “responsive to the needs of netizens” in the Philippines. “Given that the Internet has become an indispensable tool for realizing a range of human rights, combating inequality, and accelerating development and human progress, ensuring universal access to the Internet should be a priority for all states," the party-list lawmaker said in a statement. H.B. 6818 seeks to protect Filipinos’ rights to universal access to the Internet, to gather and participate in online exchanges, the right to express opinions online, and the right to privacy of digital data or networks. The bill also states that every Filipino has the “right to quality connection, which ensures that Internet speed and signal strength received by the subscriber shall not be lower than that agreed upon by the subscriber and the Internet Service Provider.” Last year, findings by search giant Google revealed that the Philippines has the second slowest average online loading speed in the world. Palatino’s bill also seeks to impose a punishment of up to six years imprisonment and a fine of up to P500,000 for people proven to have violated its provisions. The measure must undergo deliberations and approval at the committee level before it can be brought to the plenary, where a majority of all House members is needed for it to be passed by the lower chamber., Last November, Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago also filed a similar bill seeking to protect the rights and freedoms of Filipino netizens. — DVM, GMA News