Think before you click

 If you’re thinking of selling sex online in Philippines today, think again.

Child pornography, some forms of internet spam, forgery, fraud, identity theft and attacks against confidentiality are now a crime in the Philippines. With President Aquino signing into law the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, authorities finally have more teeth  against crimes committed online.

The law did not get so much attention at the committee level as the RH and Freedom of Information bills did but now that it’s been finally put in place, we hear several commotions from concerned parties especially from blogging advocates and online media practitioners who are upset with the law’s provision to criminalize online libel as well.

It’s quite ironic that exactly 40 years after Martial Law ruled this country and suppressed our rights and freedom of speech and expression,  a battle our mothers and fathers so ferociously fought for, we’re yet here again, caught in the middle of questioning whether we have really enjoyed the fruits of their fight.

With respect to the clause that gives libel at the context of online media its criminal character, there is obviously a valid ground to push for the move. Bullying happens everywhere, in any form, through whatever medium, some sorely unaccounted for even. But we should set the proper parameters here. While it is equitable to protect victims of online bashing, we must also lay down the demarcation line where people’s right to speech and expression is not compromised.

Please don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against the law punishing perpetrators of online libel but the law must not be in itself a fear factor to one’s posting of the truth or even their own opinion online. The basic argument, no matter how this is abused and over-used, is freedom of speech and expression is well preserved in our Constitution. Let it not be forgotten that stifling of these basic rights was one of the reasons why we staged the first people power.

But to be fair and clear, Sen. Tito Sotto explained yesterday in a forum called “2013: The Challenges Facing the Nation” sponsored by The FREEMAN that merely expressing an honest opinion, toward a government official for example and especially when it’s truthful, does not constitute online libel. So for instance if one logs on to his Facebook account and posts a status that overly criticizes a senator for his actions does not in itself incriminate one for online libel.

For purposes of discussion, Wikipedia defines libel (written, broadcast, or otherwise published words)—as the communication of a statement that makes a claim, expressly stated or implied to be factual, that may give an individual, business, product, group, government, religion, or nation a negative or inferior image. This can be also any disparaging statement made by one person about another, which is communicated or published, whether true or false, depending on legal state. In Common Law, it is usually a requirement that this claim be false and that the publication is communicated to someone other than the person defamed (the claimant).

Notwithstanding all legal technicalities, however, in the vast universe of the Internet, it always still pays to think before you click. Before you do something online, be it a regular status update or even just throwing on a comment, the best way to do it is to do it at the least possible harm.  Anything that may go beyond that border that can lead to somebody else’s detriment is now your responsibility.

So even sans the new law, if only people are guided by the basic virtues of doing what’s right for themselves and for others, the Internet in itself is actually very much capable of avoiding these sorts of downsides. Sometimes, all it takes is going back to our core as a person.