House OKs bill punishing fake news peddlers with prison term, P2M fine

The House of Representatives passed on final reading an anti-false information bill that imposes prison time and as much as a P2 million fine on those found guilty of willfully spreading false information.

During Wednesday’s plenary session, lawmakers voted 286-3-0 to approve House Bill 9465 or the Digital Media Anti-False Information Act on third reading.

Under the bill, individuals found guilty of “knowingly and deliberately creating, financing, directing or materially assisting false information intended to cause verifiable public harm or pose a serious threat to national security” will be penalized with six to 12 years imprisonment on top of a fine ranging from P500,000 to P2 million.

The bill also covers the peddling of artificial intelligence (AI)-generated or manipulated images, videos, and audio released without proper disclosure and intended to mislead the public.

Speaker Faustino “Bojie” Dy III, one of the authors of the measure, assured the public that the bill was carefully crafted to protect constitutional freedoms.

“It does not punish criticism, dissent, political opposition, journalism or honest mistakes. What it targets are deliberate and coordinated efforts to deceive the public and inflict harm,” Dy said in a statement.

He said the bill sets a high threshold for criminal liability and expressly protects political opinions, criticism of government and public officials, satire, journalism, whistleblowing, academic discourse, artistic expression, and religious expression.

Likewise, the measure provides that merely liking, sharing, forwarding, or reposting content is not punishable, unless prosecutors prove beyond reasonable doubt that a person knowingly and materially participated in prohibited disinformation activities. — JMA, GMA News