Weeks after speaking against cyber libel, Robredo to bring rumor peddlers to court
MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Leni Robredo is determined to bring people spreading online rumors about her to court, for a charge that she previously said should be decriminalized.
On Tuesday, Robredo asked social media users to take screenshots of posts claiming her office sent spoiled food to frontliners in a Quezon City hospital.
The hospital that her office supposedly sent the spoiled food to has dismissed the rumor and said it received food from the Office of the Vice President three times and none were spoiled.
In an interview with ANC’s Headstart on Thursday, the vice president said she has a team gathering evidence against these people. “Enough is enough. We will make sure that we will hold these people accountable. We will be seeking formal investigation,” she added.
The vice president said it is “obvious” that there is a “conductor” seemingly orchestrating the spread of false information against her. She noted that the latest post on the spoiled food sent out by her office cropped up at the same time.
Robredo said the team they have assembled is “trying to unearth real identities” behind the rumor.
RELATED: 'Thinking Pinoy' indictment no win for free speech, advocates warn
Cyber libel
Just two weeks ago, Robredo said the cyber libel conviction of veteran journalist Maria Ressa has a “chilling effect” and a poses a “threat” to our people’s freedoms.
A lawyer herself, Robredo admitted that she called for the decriminalization of libel and, consequently, cyber libel in the country. She said when she figured in false information online in the past, they have not taken steps to sue them.
“Honestly, I was always for decriminalization of libel and for that matter cyber libel. In the past, even if we already have prepared complaints, it was always me who backs down in the last minute,” she explained in English and Filipino.
“I tell them it is against what I have been advocating for in the past,” Robredo added.
But the vice president said when internet trolls spread false information online, it becomes not just a threat against her, but to society in general, especially during a pandemic.
“Because they are making the online space a hostile environment, because they hide their identities,” she said.
This has also made the cyberspace “divisive” and “very toxic,” she said.
“It’s time to make them accountable already,” she added.
In March 2019, Robredo urged Congress to pass a law to regulate social media. She later walked back the call, saying she meant regulations against "the deliberate, organized, and large-scale dissemination of false information."
READ: Labor party: Social media needs more voices, not fewer
- Latest
- Trending
