MANILA: The Philippine government faced a barrage of protests yesterday as a cybercrime law went into effect that critics said had imposed dictator-style monitoring and policing of the Internet.
Major news outlets, bloggers, rights groups and other critics turned their social media profile pages black to express outrage over the law, which could see people face long jail terms for posting defamatory comments online.
Thousand of furious tweets were posted on Twitter, with the hashtag #notocybercrimelaw becoming the top trend on the microblogging site in the Philippines yesterday.
“This law works against ordinary netizens and disregards, among other things, our right to privacy and freedom of expression,” tweeted Noemi Dado, a prominent Manila blogger who edits a citizen media site called Blog Watch.
Senator Teofisto Guingona, one of the few members of parliament who opposed the bill that President Benigno Aquino signed into law last month, also stepped up his campaign to have it overturned. “The implementation of the law... will take back our citizens to the Dark Ages where freedom of speech and expression were not recognised,” he said in a statement.
AFP
