The Philippines' Awful New 'Cybercrime' Law Put On Hold -- For Now
from the a-reprieve-not-a-repeal dept
Last week Tim Cushing wrote about the hugely-worrying new "cybercrime" law passed in the Philippines that seemed likely to criminalize all kinds of everyday online activities. As an article on Radio Australia's site reports, the Philippines' highest court has now stepped in after being petitioned to block the legislation:
The Philippine Supreme Court on Tuesday suspended a controversial cybercrime law, amid huge online protests over fears it would impose enormous curbs on Internet freedoms.
The same article reports on the widespread protests the new law has provoked:
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said a "temporary restraining order" was issued by the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
Such an order stops Philippine laws from taking effect until further orders from the court, while making no immediate judgement on their legality.Human rights groups, media organisations and netizens have voiced their outrage at the law, with some saying it echoes the curbs on freedoms imposed by dictator Ferdinand Marcos in the 1970s.
It's great to see the Supreme Court recognizing that there might be a problem here, but it's too early to assume victory. The law might still go into operation -- with what looks like dire consequences for the Internet and civil rights in the Philippines.
Philippine social media has been alight with protests, while hackers have attacked government websites and petitions have been filed with the Supreme Court calling for it to overturn the law.
Follow me @glynmoody on Twitter or identi.ca, and on Google+
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: cybercrime, philippines
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
The Beast Awakens
While the Philippines seems far away from the Western World we should still stand shoulder to shoulder with our Pinoy and Pinay brothers and sisters so that during our days of need they stand with us.
This attack on the Internet is a Global fight and we simply cannot allow countries to fall to such harsh laws to curb our Internet freedoms.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: The Beast Awakens
Freedom of speech
FTFY
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Expect She'll be chewing those nut head senators and the going Neanderthal SC who pushed thru the bill as if they were placed inside a meat grinder.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Wait, it must be Google's fault. Call the bob army!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Workers Compensation Lawyer Boston
Workers Compensation Lawyer Boston
[ link to this | view in chronology ]