Supreme Court issues TRO on Anti-Cybercrime Act

MANILA, Philippines- The Supreme Court on Tuesday unanimously voted for the issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) stopping the enforcement of the controversial Cybercrime Prevention Act. All 14 justices were present.

A series of protest actions have been staged in front of the Supreme Court premises on Padre Faura Street in Manila, including one today while the justices were in an en banc session.

The protesting groups, which are primarily against a provision in the law that criminalizes libel in cyberspace and grants the Justice department powers to block–without court order–access to data and potentially take down sites on a mere prima facie finding of violations of RA 10175, cheered when they heard the news, but remained adamant that the law be repealed.

Republic Act 10175, dubbed by critics as “e-Martial,” was signed into law by President Benigno Aquino III on September 12, the month of the 40th anniversary of the September 21, 1972 imposition by former President Ferdinand Marcos of Martial Law.

As many as 15 petitions to stop the enforcement of the law have been filed with the Supreme Court. Besides the petitions and the journalist-led rallies, a group of “hacktivists” calling themselves Anonymous Philippines also defaced a number of government sites, in protest of the new law. The government appealed to hackers to spare such sites, which include vital information needed by the public. The hackers, however, disowned the defacement of certain sites like Project NOAH that provides vital weather data.

Bayan Muna partylist Rep. Teodoro Casino Jr., who on Monday filed the 15th petition, said there was no question in the law’s goal of addressing cybrecrime, which has now become rampant.

Casino, however, said the law’s libel provisions that give the government surveillance power over the activities of a person using the Internet infringe on the netizen’s privacy and freedom of expression.

The TRO was issued as the high tribunal deliberated en banc on 15 petitions from various groups and personalities from the media, lawyers’ and free-speech advocates’ sectors, all seeking a halt to implementation of the Cybercrime Prevention Act.

Earlier petitions were filed by the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) assisted by FLAG lawyers, the Philippine Bar Association, the Ateneo Human Rights Center and a bloggers’ group, among others.

Earlier on Monday, two other petitions were filed, one by Casiño’s fellow Bayan Muna solon Neri Javier Colmenares and lawyer Edsel Tupaz, and another by the National Press Club.

The most contested provisions across all petitions are in Sections 4,5,6,7, 12 and 19, or the so-called “take-down” provision that most constitutionalists deem the most dangerous to civil rights. It grants the Justice department the power to block access to data, and potentially shut down web sites, on a mere prima facie finding of a violation of RA 10175. This, even without a court order.

Constitutional rights infringed

The PBA petition said among the constitutional rights infringed by the law are those against double jeopardy and bill of attainder, besides the provision that automatically makes the penalties on e-libel and other violations one degree higher, compared to libel in the traditional media.

Casiño, who has just filed his candidacy for senator, told reporters that their petition to nullify the law is similar to the previous pleas against the law’s “e-libel” provisions, Section 19 or the “take down clause,” and the authority given to the Department of Justice to apprehend suspectede cyber criminals even without warrants of arrest.

According to the lawmaker, even people who text and call using cellular phones with Information Communications Technology or ICT device could be accused of e-libel.

Dubbed by critics as “e-Martial Law,” the act was signed by President Benigno Aquino III last September 12 days before the commemoration of the 40th year of the September 21, 1972 imposition of Martial Law by President Ferdinand Marcos.

In its 61-page petition, PiFA and Casiño appealed to the high court to require the government to cease and desist from implementing the law while the petition is pending.

The act violates the freedom of speech, expression and of the press, unreasonable searches and seizures, right to privacy, due process, equal protection of the law, among others, according to the petitioners.

They added that the law “is constitutionally infirm on its face for being vague and overbroad,” a criticism shared by most other petitioners.

source: interaksyon.com

Anti-cybercrime law to test Sereno court’s tech knowledge, independence

The controversy over the Cybercrime Prevention Act will serve as the first test for the Supreme Court (SC) under Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, lawyers said Tuesday.

Lawyer Argee Guevarra of the Philippine Internet Freedom Alliance said the petitions filed before the high court questioning the constitutionality of Republic Act (RA) 10175 will gauge how much the SC justices can appreciate modern forms of communication.

“It requires a lot of comprehension of how these technologies work to be able to come up with an intelligent decision on these petitions. I doubt if our justices even have Facebook or Twitter accounts,” Guevarra said in a phone interview.

He added that senior justices may have to seek the help of some “friends of the court” to be able to have sufficient grasp of the Internet, which is at the center of the controversy involving the Anti-Cybercrime Law.

“Siguro dapat silang maghanap ng younger lawyers who have the expertise on e-commerce to help them understand the intricacies of this technology,” the lawyer said.

Guevarra further said that Sereno—the youngest SC chief justice to be appointed in this century—will definitely play a key role in the deliberations on the constitutionality of RA 10175.

“She [Sereno] can identify well with these new technologies because of her youth. More senior justices, however, may have traditional views on these new forms of media. The chief justice should be able to help bridge this generation gap,” he said.

The SC failed on Tuesday to issue a temporary restraining order on the implementation of RA 10175 despite seven petitions already filed before the high court questioning the law’s constitutionality.

Because of this, the Cybercrime Prevention Act—which gives the government the authority to access and block certain computer data—took effect on Wednesday amid a slew of protests against it.

‘No need to be tech-savvy’

Lawyer Theodore Te, who teaches criminal law at the University of the Philippines, meanwhile said that the SC justices do not necessarily have to be tech-savvy to be able to rule correctly on the petitions against RA 10175.

“They [the justices] just have to be aware that this totally new platform exists, and to determine if online expression should be governed by the same constitutional guarantees that govern traditional forms of expression,” he said in a separate interview.

He however agreed that questions on the constitutionality of the Cybercrime Prevention Act will be the “first important test” of Sereno’s leadership of the high court.

“She [Sereno] is leader of the court. I would expect that she would set the direction on how the court will rule on this,” he said.

On Saturday, constitutionalist Fr. Joaquin Bernas, SJ, also said in a blog post, that the SC’s decision on petitions against the anti-cybercrime law “should tell us more about the mind of the new chief justice.”

Bernas also described the new law as “frightening” due to threat it poses on freedom of expression and on the privacy of communication.

A test of independence

Guevarra, for his part, also considers the controversy surrounding RA 10175 as a test of Sereno’s independence.

“The vote of the chief justice will be indicative of her mindset, whether she is progressive or will she just toe the administration’s line,” he said.

“Would the chief justice interpret the law based on jurisprudence or just agree with Malacañang’s pronouncements that this law is good for us?” he added.

Sereno, who was appointed by President Benigno Aquino III as the first woman chief justice last August, has repeatedly vowed to be independent throughout her 18-year term.

The chief justice had also promised to make the SC more technologically savvy, saying the Philippines’ young population is no longer shaped by school, family, and traditional media, but by the "insistent and intrusive influence of social media.” — DVM, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com