(POLITIKO) Senator Jinggoy Estrada wants purveyors of fake news fined and jailed in order to discourage them from spreading false and misleading news online and on social media.
In pushing Senate Bill 1296, or an Act Criminalizing the Creation and Dissemination of Fake News as protection from online falsehoods and manipulation, it also seeks to amend Section 3 of the RA 10175 or Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 to include “fake news” in the definition of terms and its inclusion in Section 4 on the list of cybercrime offenses.
“Click baits, propaganda, and manipulation of legitimate news segments to deliberately online falsehoods, false news or disinformation are so common nowadays. making it difficult to distinguish which is actual news from fake ones, masyado ng talamak ito (this is too much)” Estrada said.
He explained that legislative measures aim to stop the proliferation of disinformation and misinformation on the internet by criminalizing fake news under RA 10175.
Under his proposal, fake news refers to disinformation of stories, facts and news which is presented as a fact, the veracity of which cannot be confirmed, with the purpose of distorting the truth and misleading its audience.
It also includes the creation and dissemination of fake news committed through a computer system or any similar means which can be devised in the future. -Politiko