MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 12, 2014) – Filipino media groups on Wednesday have asked the Supreme Court to nullify questionable provisions in the Cybercrime Prevention Act, particularly the controversial clause on online libel.
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines and the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, including the Philippine Press Institute and other journalist groups, filed a petition that seeks to declare online libel in Sec. 4 (C) 4 of the Cybercrime Prevention Act unconstitutional because it constitutes prior restraint and curtails basic rights to free speech and expression.
It described the online libel provision as an anachronism in an age when, around the world, libel has been decriminalized.
The petition also cited the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which the Philippines is a party. The said covenant upholds the right to free speech and expression, and maintains no defamation law shall be passed stifling these freedoms.
The groups likewise sought to invalidate sections which unduly delegated judicial and legislative powers to law enforcement agencies such as the Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice.
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