Malabon, An Waray reps want publishers of fake news liable for cybercrime

Two lawmakers in the House of Representatives have filed a measure seeking to punish publishers of fake news by deeming such offenses a cybercrime.

Representatives Josephine "Jaye" Lacson-Noel of Malabon and Florencio Noel of An-Waray party-list made the proposal under House Bill 2971, which amends Section 4 of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 by including fake news among content-related offenses.

House Bill 2971 defines fake news as misinformation and disinformation of stories, facts and news which is presented as fact, the veracity of which cannot be confirmed, with the purpose of distorting the truth and misleading its audience.

"This [amendment of Section 3] which will also include creation and dissemination of fake news as defined in Section 3, committed through a computer system or any other similar means which may be devised in the future," the bill read.

"It cannot be stressed enough that nowadays, people have been repeatedly misinformed about what they consider to be data and facts through the advent of "fake news". Not even credible sources like media outlets and broadcast stations were spared of the false information spread out by paid trolls to distort truth and deliberately mislead people to think the opposite of what is actually happening," the authors, who are husband and wife, added in their explanatory note on the measure.

The authors also cited the two types of fake news as stated by Professor Clarissa David of the College of Mass Communication of the University of the Philippines: misinformation and disinformation.

David defined misinformation as false information which is unintentionally disseminated on online platforms with no propaganda while disinformation is deemed orchestrated for political ends.

"Both misinformation and disinformation must not go unpunished, especially since it poisons the mindset of our citizens by distorting the truth," the lawmakers said.

"In view of the foregoing, the approval of this bill is earnestly sought," they added.

Just last month, the Court of Appeals (CA), in upholding the cybercrime conviction of Rappler chief executive officer Maria Ressa and former Rappler researcher Rey Santos Jr., increased the penalty of libel committed online by one degree from prision correctional in maximum period  (four to six years) to prision mayor in its minimum period (10 to 12 years). 

The increase in penalty is because under the same CA decision, charges in connection with cyberlibel may be filed up to 15 years after the publication of the article in question. — BM, GMA News