MANILA,
Philippines—Media groups and Filipinos stepped up calls Wednesday for
repealing a tough new law that targets cybercrime but activists fear
will be used to suppress online freedoms in the Southeast Asian nation.
The Cybercrime Prevention Act took effect Wednesday despite
last-minute petitions to the Supreme Court to stop it. The justices said
they will take up the issue next week.
The law is envisioned as a measure against hacking, identity
theft, spamming, cybersex and online child pornography. But citizens and
groups who protested on social networking sites, blogs and out in the
streets fear politicians will use it to silence critics.
The law contains a provision that says libel — which is already
punishable by up to six years in prison — is also a cybercrime. It
doubles cumulative penalties for online offenses and allows government
agencies to search, seize and destroy computer data deemed libelous.
Human rights and media groups have unsuccessfully campaigned for
years to downgrade libel from a criminal to a civil offense, saying
politicians often use the law to harass journalists and other critics.
Former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s husband sued 46
investigative journalists and publishers in more than 50 libel cases
from 2003 to 2007 but later dropped them in a “gesture of peace.”
The journalists wrote stories alleging Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo
was corrupt, which he denied. He is now facing two corruption cases
linked to an overpriced government deal and the sale of secondhand
helicopters to police.
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