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Philippines Debates Anti-Disinformation Bill Amid Free Speech Concerns
The Philippine House of Representatives has approved a bill penalizing the spread of online falsehoods, but civil society and media groups are raising concerns about freedom of speech. The bill also mandates audits for major social media platforms.
MANILA, Philippines – Ahead of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s State of the Nation Address (SONA), the House of Representatives approved House Bill No. 9465, or the proposed Digital Media Anti-False Information Act. The bill seeks to penalize the intentional spread of online falsehoods that cause verifiable public harm or threaten national security. On paper, the measure carries several “green flags” that free speech and transparency advocates welcome. It also attempts to mandate tech giants like Facebook and TikTok to undergo annual independent audits, publicly disclose political ads, and work with education agencies to institutionalize media literacy across all school levels. Despite the assurance of lawmakers, including the bill’s principal author House Majority Leader Sandro Marcos, that the bill shields the public from malicious online deception, the proposed measure drew concerns from civil society organizations and media advocates. To weigh in on this new bill, #FactsFirstPH, a multi-stakeholder coalition of truth-tellers and advocates, subjected the bill to a simulated “dating show” assessment. In the video, the Ateneo Human Rights Center, Youth Voices Count, PressOne, and PHINMA Education evaluate the critical provisions of the bill and decide whether they are ready to commit, or pop the red balloon. A Senate version of an anti-disinformation bill is also being debated, but this is not tackled in this video. #FactsFirstPH joined over 50 media organizations in a joint statement about the Senate and House anti-disinformation bills. Read the full statement here. In the past, the coalition also spearheaded multi-sectoral fact-checking initiatives to combat systemic election propaganda, monitored coordinated inauthentic behavior and disinformation networks, and provided legal safeguards for truth-tellers under attack. Know more about the bill by reading why censorship fears linger despite the revisions and understand what’s at stake. Join the #FactsFirstPH coalition by emailing [email protected]. – Rappler.com
Original source
Rappler Philippines