Bulatlat asks QC RTC to reconsider denial of TRO vs. NTC block order

Independent news organization Bulatlat on Friday appealed to the Quezon City Court to reconsider its denial of a temporary restraining order against a memorandum ordering internet service providers to block access to its website.

According to the National Union of People’s Lawyers, Bulatlat managing editor Len Olea filed an urgent motion for reconsideration with the QC Regional Trial Court Branch 306.

The NUPL said Olea asserts that the blocking of Bulatlat.com will continue to cause grave injustice and irreparable injury if not enjoined.

“[A]ny continuing and impending implementation of (NTC Memo) is anathematic to a democratic framework where a free, alert and even militant press is essential for the political enlightenment and growth of the citizenry,” the plaintiff said.

Alipato Media Center, the publisher of Bulatlat, previously asked the court to junk the National Telecommunications Commission memorandum ordering ISPs to block access to Bulatlat.com and 20 other websites that are allegedly linked to communist groups.

Bulatlat’s legal counsel said the Court denied the request on the supposed basis that the website Bulatlat.com is still “accessible.”

Motion

In its 11-page motion for reconsideration, Bulatlat said while the defendant' s counsel was able to access the website, "the fact remains that the blocking is still in place pursuant to the assailed memorandum."

Bulatlat said that from June 8 to July 7, the website lost 43% of its monthly subscribers, only registering 31,136 unique visitors.

"The number of lost Bulatlat.com readers is rather critical and, with due respect, quite the opposite of this Honorable Court's observation that the same is ‘of no moment,’ ‘irrelevant’ and a mere ‘inconvenience’," the motion said.

"It demonstrates that Defendants’ design to censor Bulatlat.com through the assailed Memorandum has succeeded to a significant extent," it added.

Due to the inaccessibility of the website, the media organization argued that there is a "clear suppression" of constitutionally guaranteed freedom of the press and freedom of expression.

Further, Bulatlat argued that the memorandum constitutes prior restraint as it censors content off the internet before the actual publication.

"It is, moreover, a content-based prior restraint because it is directed at the content of the websites, which, according to Defendants NTC, NSC, and Esperon, were ‘found to be affiliated to and supporting terrorists and terrorist organizations," it said.

It, however, argued that the contents of the website are protected expression as these do not fall under pornography, false or misleading advertisement, advocacy or imminent lawless action, and danger to national security.

According to Bulatlat, the defendants also failed to show that they are acting under lawful court order during the July 13 hearing.

"Given that the NTC, under its charter or any other law, has no power to impose content-based prior restraint on expression, ‘any order imposing prior restraint on an alleged unprotected expression requires prior adjudication by the courts on whether the prior restraint is constitutional’,” it said.

It called on the court to revert and set aside its previous order and issue a temporary restraining order against the NTC order.  —KBK, GMA News