Will Philippines’ anti-disinformation bills empower state to ‘decide the truth’?

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr has called for a “balanced” anti-disinformation law that fights fake news while maintaining freedom of expression.

Photo: Shutterstock The Philippines is weighing a new anti-disinformation law, but digital rights advocates and researchers warn that the leading proposals could give the government sweeping powers while doing little to stop the networks that actually drive online influence campaigns.

In February, President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr asked Congress to prioritise 21 measures before adjourning in June, including an anti-disinformation law that he said should be “balanced” – fighting fake news while maintaining freedom of expression.

The impact of troll networks, paid influence and covert political amplification is already well known in the Philippines, where organised online disinformation helped shape Rodrigo Duterte’s 2016 presidential campaign and political discourse since.

A 2017 University of Oxford study said his campaign had spent US$200,000 on trolls.

But critics say the proposed laws risk targeting speech instead of those systems, giving the state wide discretion to define what is false.

Congress does not lack ideas on how to tackle the problem, with 14 bills filed in the House of Representatives and 11 in the Senate.

The proposal drawing the sharpest scrutiny is House Bill 2697, the “Anti-Fake News and Disinformation Act”, filed by the president’s son, Representative Ferdinand Alexander Marcos.

The bill seeks to punish any “person” who “knowingly and maliciously” spreads fake news or disinformation; creates, finances or operates troll farms, bot networks or coordinated campaigns that spread fake news; spreads disinformation that incites violence, promotes hate speech, discredits democratic institutions, or causes public panic or disorder; or allows the use of social media platforms or accounts to “systematically engage” in such conduct.

One provision on “aggravating circumstances” says the maximum penalty – 12 years’ imprisonment and a fine of 2 million pesos (US$35,000) – would apply if, among other things, the offence “relates to or interferes with elections, public health emergencies, disaster response, or peace negotiations”, if the fake news is spread with the direct or indirect aid of foreigners, or if the offender is a journalist or social media influencer with 50,000 or more followers.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr talks to reporters at cash relief assistance centre in M

原文链接: 南华早报