Instead of protecting the rights of people, the Anti-Cybercrime law threatens to set the stage for more rights violations, the US chapter of Amnesty International USA said.
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Amnesty International deputy Asia director Isabelle Arradon said the law lets the Department of Justice close down websites and monitor online activities without a warrant, violating due process guarantees.Stage set for further rights violations
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?Instead of bringing its libel legislation in line with its United Nations treaty obligations, the Philippines has set the stage for further human rights violations by embedding criminal libel in the 'cybercrime' law,? said Arradon.?
She also warned the law, which had been opposed by several groups, "will have a chilling effect on freedom of expression.?
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AI USA noted that under the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, a person could be sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for posting online comments judged to be libelous.
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It also noted the Philippine Constitution establishes that "no law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech."
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?The ?cybercrime? law rolls back protections for free speech in the Philippines. Under this law, a peaceful posting on the Internet could result in a prison sentence,? said Arradon.
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AI noted the law, which took effect last Oct. 3, broadly extends criminal libel to apply to acts ?committed through a computer system or any other similar means which may be devised in the future.?
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It also increases the criminal penalties for libel in computer-related cases.
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Incompatible with international standards
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AI noted the UN Human Rights Committee in January 2011 found the Philippines?s criminalization of libel to be ?incompatible? with the freedom of expression clause in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
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The UN Human Rights Committee said that after journalist Alexander Adonis was imprisoned for libel for two years in 2007, the Philippines was ?obligated to take steps to prevent similar violations occurring in the future, including by reviewing the relevant libel legislation.??
Mounting international unrest vs Philippine law
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Earlier, New York-based watchdog Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) warned that the law allows the Justice Department to summarily shut down a website, or a politician to stifle media with a libel threat.
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CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Bob Dietz said in a blog post that it was "bewildering" that the government coupled a law targeting so-called cybercrimes like cybersex, child pornography, identity theft, and spamming with the "hoary and over-used concept of libel."?
Even more mysterious, he added, was why the government felt it should "suspend its lengthy heritage of due legal process by giving the Department of Justice power to shut down websites and monitor all online activities without a warrant."
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Access lamented the emerging new reality in the Philippines is that sharing a link, clicking "Like" on Facebook, or retweeting could mean 12 years in jail.
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It said the Cybercrime Prevention Act "is so broad and loophole-ridden that a wide range of online activity could be considered libelous."
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"Even if you don't write the material, just sharing it with someone online could land you in prison," it said.
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Because of the unjust law, it said Filipinos have been protesting in the streets and online to stand up for their rights.
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On September 18, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) issued a statement in which it reiterated that the libel laws underpinning the Act go against United Nations declarations.
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"EFF is gravely concerned about the implications of the libel provision in the Cybercrime Act and supports local journalists and free expression advocates in opposing it," the statement concluded.
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A day later, the Asia-Pacific chapter of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) backed the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) in "expressing serious concern" over the Act.
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"The IFJ is greatly concerned that the inclusion of online content in the Act could be used to curtail freedom of expression online, " the IFJ said.?
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"We are further concerned that the government of the Philippines continues to delay the passing of the (Freedom of Information bill), which clearly stands against their stated commitment to press freedom," the IFJ added, referring to a delayed bill that would have facilitated public access to government documents.
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On September 28, the international Human Rights Watch (HRW) called the Act "unconstitutional".
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"The cybercrime law needs to be repealed or replaced. It violates Filipinos? rights to free expression and it is wholly incompatible with the Philippine government?s obligations under international law," said HRW Asia director Brad Adams.
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"So long as it stands, the new cybercrime law will have a chilling effect over the entire Philippine online community," Adams warned.?? TJD, GMA Newswanderlust gone tyler perry good deeds pretty in pink nba all star game shark tank john wall
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