UNBOXED: Cybercrime Law in the Philippines
Today the new Cybercrime Law takes full effect. We here in Unbox are against certain provisions (specifically the inclusion of Libel) and we believe that it should be amended. We believe that the passage of this law not only shows that several officials in government are insensitive and outdated, but they are also irresponsible (senators actually said on record that they “missed” the Libel provision).
In true Unbox fashion, here are the specs.
Cybercrime Law Spec Sheet and Key Features
- Upgraded Security Features for Hacking, Cybersex, Child Pornography, Identity Theft (Yay!)
- Libel now expanded to Online (dun dun dun…)
- You can get charged with Libel twice (200% increase in penalties)
- Libel was included in the final reading only
- Up to 12 years imprisonment (double the usual)
- 13 Senators voted in favor, two admitted they didn’t even read the whole thing
- 1 Senator voted against
- Will automatically downgrade PH from being the 6th freest in the Internet in the World
- “Cybercrime” mentioned 65,000 on October 2, almost beating “Sex” at 82,000 mentions
- “Sotto” has been averaging almost 5,000 mentions daily for the last 30 days
- 7 Petitions filed against the Law in the Supreme Court
Sad day for the Philippines. Hoping that this gets amended ASAP.
