MANILA, Philippines-Even minus the controversial cybercrime law, Filipino netizens already are under surveillance by the “Five Eyes” spy network exposed by American whistle-blower Edward Snowden, advocates of Internet freedom said Monday.
“Our problem with regulations is that it places every netizen under surveillance, ” said Marnie Tonson, convenor and lawyer of the Philippine Internet Freedom Alliance (PIFA), throughout a Senate hearing on the cybercrime law.
But Assistant Justice Secretary Geronimo Sy doused fears that Republic Act Number 10175, or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, will be utilized by the federal government to put netizens under surveillance.
It could have already been a “good problem, ” only if the federal government had the “basic capacity” to mount such surveillance, Sy said.
“But remember, in government (offices), we can’t even stock our toilets with wc paper, ” Sy told the committees on science, constitutional amendments, civil service and finance through the joint Senate hearing.
The justice official vowed to create on line the Department of Justice (DOJ)-crafted implementing regulations “to invite every one to place (in their) comments. ” Sy said the DOJ had submitted a fresh version of the proposed cybercrime law to the senators.
The Supreme Court recently ruled that the web libel provision in the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 was constitutional, though it struck down yet another provision that empowers the justice department to restrict or block usage of data and web sites violating regulations.
The high court also clarified that only the initial authors of libelous material were included in the cybercrime law, rather than those that merely received or reacted to it.
Bloggers, freedom advocates and journalists have pressed Congress to repeal the cybercrime law that criminalizes libel, with some senators adding that libel in the Revised Penal Code ought to be repealed aswell.
Because of its part, PIFA said Filipino netizens were already under surveillance even minus the cybercrime law through the “Five Eyes” network identified by Snowden as a significant monitoring program designed to raise the sharing of surveillance information across borders.
A government official could request any person in the (Five Eyes) network-composed of Australia, america, The uk, New Zealand and Canada-to conduct the surveillance, Tonson said
