DISMAYADO si ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro sa naging guilty verdict ng isang korte laban sa Rappler reporter na si Frank Cimatu kaugnay ng kasong cyber-libel na inihain laban sa kanya ni dating Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol kaugnay ng kanyang post sa Facebook noong 2017.
“We express dismay at the cyber-libel conviction of Rappler journalist Frank Cimatu over a Facebook post he made in 2017. The libel law has been increasingly used by public officials and public figures as a tool to cow and muzzle an independent press, to shield themselves from critical reportage. With the passage of Republic Act 10175 or the Cybercrime Law of 2012 and its criminalization of cyber-libel, the threat to the people’s right to free expression and free press has even become more serious and real,” sabi ni Castro.
Idinagdag ni Castro na batay sa datos ng Department of Justice noong Mayo 2022, umabot na 1,317 ang mga kaso ng cyber-libel ang dinidinig sa korte, 1,240 kaso ang nakabinbin sa mga prosecutor, 44 kaso ang iniurong, apat ang acquittal, 12 ang nahatulan ng guilty.
“The huge amount of cases filed just of cyber-libel and the many more cases of libel is a threat to freedom of the press and freedom of expression. It is about time that we decriminalize libel and cyber-libel,” dagdag ni Castro.
Aniya, inihain niya ang House Bill 569 na naglalayong amenyandahan ang Cybercrime Prevention Act at House Bill 1769 na nagde-decriminalize sa libel.
“Mga journalists ang napag-iinitan ng mga kaso ng cyber-libel at libel pero napakarami ang mga trolls, red-taggers at fake news spreaders na hinahayaan lang ding magpatuloy sa pagkakalat ng mga fake news at red-tagging,” dagdag pa ni Castro.
Idinagdag ni Castro na panahon na para dinggin ng Kamara ang mga panukala na hanggang sa ngayon ay hindi pa nasisimulan.
“With another conviction of cyber-libel against a journalist, we call on the immediate passage of House Bill 569 and House Bill 1769 because the law has been weaponized against journalists in the effort to silence them,” dagdag ni Castro.
