The latest buzz within the Metro is not just about the astounding performance of the casts of the Phantom of the Opera and its not about the upcoming show of David Guetta either. What the people are wagging about right now is the controversial Cyber Crime Law.
The day I became active in using social media accounts was also the day I resigned to the fact that whatever I post will be available to everyone and could and might be considered as derogatory and can be taken against me. I know that people can hate me or like me and judge me based on what I say or what I write in my accounts, but at the end of the day, I still think I have all the right to rant and rave regardless of what other people will say, because as they are entitled to formulate their opinions about me, I'm also entitled to formulate my own opinions and discuss them as I see fit. I can honestly say that despite my straightforward opinions I have never been abusive towards anyone and I certainly don't mind people correcting my mistakes. That being said, I can never be sorry for being brutally honest and for expressing my thoughts and I'll never will be.
In a nutshell, the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 is divided into three categories: (1) offenses against the confidentiality, integrity and availability of computer data and systems, (2) computer-related offenses, and (3) content-related offenses. I don't have anything against having a law that would protect people from fraud, cyber bullying / libelous notions and most of all cyber prostitution, I do think that we should have had done something about these things a long time ago. I read the whole article to understand what's going on, and while some of the clauses are reasonable and well defined, there are some that seem to have been included without a thorough consideration. I'd also say the same thing about enacting this law, it was signed without proper discussion or review.
The first time I heard about the proposition of this law I was already skeptical. It seems too hurried. There should have been more deliberations on what would constitute as online libel as opposed to merely basing it on Article 355 of the Revised Penal Code. Is that Penal code really even updated and in lieu to our current situation? Delving deeper, this law would protect us, but it would also exploit us, especially with the amount of power that will be entrusted with the Justice Department and we definitely don't want to give them more license to further abuse their authority.
People like me who blogs, rant, rave and talk about whatever in their social media accounts will no longer have the freedom to do so. We can no longer complain that a certain restaurant have a shitty customer service or even voice out our opinion about certain anomalies going on within the society. And speaking of anomalies, isn't it a little suspicious that this became a law in a very short period of time following the wake of various parodies about some of our Political Leaders (i.e Sottomy, Noynoying, etc) and considering that there are tons of pressing issues in the Philippines since when did online libel become a top priority?! Can we do something first about the horrid transportation system in the Metro?!! They are not just merely stifling the freedom of speech, this law actually makes me feel like they are also insulting my intellectual faculties. So I'm supposed to hear no evil, see no evil and definitely speak no evil! Seriously?!! Well there you go, long live the democratic country of the Philippines!!
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| And what about this Law?? |
Wait, did I just type in the word democratic, because this is more like a scenario from those dystopian novels I'm loving these days. If they really seek to protect the netizens as they are claiming, they ought to have a discussion first with the people and I mean the ordinary citizens, to have a more defined guidelines that would constitute a cybercrime. This is a subject that should not be pass abruptly but ought to be discuss and argued over. It is also unacceptable for some Senators to issue an apology for signing this law without thoroughly reading the clauses or to apologize for overlooking certain paragraphs. Seriously?!! I think I'll be overlooking certain Senatorial candidates as well at next year's election. I wonder though, if there will be any reliable candidates for next year's election. Kindly enlighten me.
Oh well, I guess it would be pointless to come up with some witty parodies now, after all who wants to pay 1,000,000 or spend 12 years in jail? I know I don't.
You could read more about this law through these links:
Cybercrime Prevention Act 2012
GMA News: Digital Martial Law
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