The anti-fake news bill filed by Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III violates international law and , if passed, will “effectively silence and prohibit any speech” the government does not like, the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law said in its analysis of “Anti-Fake Content Act” filed on July 1, 2019.
In the conclusion of its analysis of the Sotto bill, ICNL said, “This Act enables the Government of the Philippines to effectively silence and prohibit any speech it does not like. In addition to censoring such speech – which is itself an unlawful restriction to the freedom of expression – the Act provides for overly harsh criminal penalties to the creators, authors, producers and publishers of content deemed to be ‘false’ or ‘misleading to the public.’”
“Laws that criminalize ‘fake news’ violate international law protecting the freedom of expression, “ ICNL said.