Cybercrime Law casts dark shadow over EDSA commemoration

Despite the largely festive atmosphere in Metro Manila on Wednesday, the 28th anniversary of People Power, celebrations were overshadowed by the looming specter of the Cybercrime Law's libel provision.

 

Cyber activists gathered on Tuesday at the EDSA Shrine to protest the Supreme Court's decision last week upholding the constitutionality of libel in the context of the controversial Philippine Cybercrime Law.

 

Members of the the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), along with other media groups and bloggers, assembled at 2pm in an Ortigas mall before heading to the shrine for 'Black Tuesday', a protest against perceived censorship against journalism and freedom of expression.

 

Protesters with black duct tape over their mouths held up placards demanding the removal of Republic Act 10175, or the Cybercrime Act of 2012. 

 

 

An estimated 200 protesters were in attendance, claimed Philippine Internet Freedom Alliance (PIFA) spokesperson Ayeen Karunungan in a phone interview with GMA News Online. While there are no plans for another mass action in the future, she said every group who petitioned against online libel hope for the law to be repealed in congress.

Online protest memes

 

Along with a physical protest, online freedom advocates released protest memes on their individual social network accounts. Netizens and media outfits were encouraged to flood their own accounts with these memes, in extended support for the rally:

 

 

The NUJP also asked provincial chapters to join in by wearing black and participating in the online protest, which will continue for the next few days.

 

Several media groups decried the government's approach to libel—in traditional media but even moreso online—as "regressive". Such censorship hearkened back to the dark days of Martial Law, when freedom of expression was completely curbed.

 

 

"Ang press freedom ay isa sa mga naging benepisyo ng pagbabalik ng demokrasya noong EDSA. At sa totoo lang, maganda ring gunitain na ang mga taga-media at ang mga mamamayan ang pinaka-punong nagsulong ng pagbabalik ng demokrasya," said Malou Mangahas, executive director of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism.

 

"Malungkot ngayong isipin na, 28 years later, para tayong nag-28 years step back," she added.

Malicious until proven otherwise

 

Though the law currently serves as a restriction, Mangahas compared it to a benign tumor that might turn malignant at any time. She pointed out that the provision automatically presumes that all posts with critical elements were done out of malice, and includes netizens in their scope of prosecutable targets.

She warned that the law could be used to sue individuals and paves the way for politically-biased cases. In any case, she added, there is no need to create a separate law for online libel because the constitution already provides for it.

"Ang existing libel law ay criminal libel, or civil case. Marami na hong paniwala sa buong mundo, sa mga demokrasya, na dapat i-decriminalize ang libel. Dapat kung sino ang partido na sa tingin niya ay siya ay nabiktima, siya dapat ang magdemanda, hindi ang estado," Mangahas explained.

 

Libel, she said, has heavily political connotations in the country, making the topic more a sensitive one to the government. The provision for online libel itself was a last-minute addition by a politician who had a personal stake in the passage of the law, she said.

Confusion in execution

 

Furthermore, implementation of the law is problematic, since police officers instrumental to enforcing these rules do not even understand how the internet worked.

 

"In our belief, online crimes actually take root from offline crimes. Ibig sabihin police officers muna. Nung dinagdag ang online libel, nagkalito-lituhan na ang mga pangyayari," said Mangahas.

 

"We should defend the excess of freedom rather than the lack of it kasi yun ang pinaka-esensya ng demokrasya," she said.

 

Deliberations to file motions for reconsideration regarding the bill, specifically, the sections regarding online libel and cyber sex, will begin once copies of the bill are distributed 15 days after its approval.

 

Karunungan said that anti-online libel groups will file motions for reconsideration separately to ensure that the SC will not debunk their requests.

 

"Kapag magkakasama kasi, mas madaling tanggihan ng Supreme Court," she explained. — Rie Takumi/TJD, GMA News