House bill seeks to criminalize “fake news” dissemination
Reps. Florencio Gabriel Noe and Josephine Lacson-Noel (Malabon)
A bill that seeks to punish those who create and disseminate fake news has been filed in the House of Representatives.
House Bill No. 2971, filed by Representatives Josephine “Jaye” Lacson-Noel of Malabon and Florencio Noel of An-Waray party, amends the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 by including the creation and dissemination of fake news as a form of cybercrime.
The bill defines “fake news” as “misinformation and disinformation of stories, facts, and news which is presented as a fact, the veracity of which cannot be confirmed, with the purpose of distorting [the] truth and misleading its audience.”
A conviction will carry a punishment of imprisonment of six years and one day to twelve years and a minimum of P200,000 in fines.
“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 happen to be husband and wife, added in their explanatory note on the measure.
A survey conducted by the Social Weather Station in December 12-16, 2021, found that 69% of adult Filipinos consider the problem of fake news to be serious. Fifty-one percent of respondents say it is difficult to spot fake news on TV, radio, or social media.
The survey
