MANILA, OCTOBER 5, 2012 – Filipino netizens protested the passing of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 on Tuesday, donning blacked-out Facebook and Twitter profile pictures, “censored” posts and the Twitter hashtag #NoToCybercrimeLaw.
Senator Teofisto Guingona III was the lone wolf to vote against the law that caused public outrage due to fear of restrained freedom of expression, while 13 senators voted to pass the anti-cybercrime law hoped to further promote the habit “think before you click”.
The principal concern of the public is the libel clause, said to be inserted at the last minute by Senator Tito Sotto. Senator Edgardo Angara, the author of the bill, has cleared concerns regarding Facebook “likes” and Twitter “retweets” being libelous, explaining that only authors and conspirators are held liable for defamatory posts. Groups of bloggers, journalists and lawyers have filed separate petitions questioning some provisions of the cyber crime law.
Malacañang has scheduled discussions with stakeholders next Tuesday, October 9, to allow them to air their concerns about RA10175.
People from the creative and media industries took to Twitter their thoughts on the law.
Leo Burnett’s Paul John Pena (@pauljohnpena) demands "more action, less talk". "I read a thread on the Cybercrime Prevention Act and saw people just talking and yapping. ACTION please."
Refusing to go back to Martial Law, MEC Interaction’s Cynthia Dayco (@cyndayco) urged her followers to go black.
Director Mark Meily (@markmeily) said, "We all have that universal RIGHT TO PRIVACY.DEFEND that RIGHT,celebrity or not. And everyone should RESPECT that RIGHT, journalist or not."
