Senator Jinggoy Estrada has proposed to Congress to criminalize the creation and dissemination of fake news.
Estrada filed Senate Bill 1296 in hopes of putting “a stop to the proliferation of disinformation and misinformation on the internet” by amending Sections 3 and 4 of Republic Act 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act.
SB 1296 seeks to include the creation and dissemination of fake news committed through a computer system or any other similar means in the list of punishable acts under the law.
It also aims to amend Section 3 to define fake news as “misinformation and 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.”
The bill has been referred to the Senate committees on justice and human rights as well as public information and mass media. — VBL, GMA News