Philippine president vetoes bill seeking to tackle social media abuse

MANILA, April 15 (Reuters) – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has vetoed a invoice that would require social media consumers to register their lawful identities and cellphone figures, contacting for a a lot more comprehensive research of the measure, his spokesperson explained on Friday.

Lawmakers experienced accepted the evaluate earlier this yr as they sought to thwart on the internet abuse and misinformation, particularly in the operate up to the May well 9 standard election. study a lot more But with Duterte’s veto, the monthly bill is not likely to be handed ahead of the poll.

Social media has come to be a vital campaigning platform for candidates working for president, vice president, and thousands of seats in the two chambers of Congress and community governments.

Duterte’s election victory in 2016 was partly attributed to a nicely-organised social media marketing campaign, but critics have blamed professional-Duterte trolls and influencers for spreading misinformation to discredit and threaten opponents.

Even though Duterte experienced lauded lawmakers’ attempts to address cybercrimes and other on the web offences, he disagreed with the inclusion of social media in the invoice with no in depth pointers, explained presidential spokesperson Martin Andanar.

The absence of pointers “may possibly give increase to a scenario of perilous state intrusion and surveillance threatening lots of constitutionally shielded rights”, Andanar claimed.

“It is incumbent on the Office environment of the President to make sure that any statute is steady with the calls for of the Constitution, this kind of as those people which warranty specific privateness and free of charge speech,” he said.

The veto ought to not, on the other hand, discourage lawmakers from passing productive and strengthened steps that assure a safe and sound and safe on the net setting for Filipinos, Andanar said.

Reporting by Enrico Dela Cruz Enhancing by Kanupriya Kapoor

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