1 SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC )

2 OF THE PHILIPPINES )
3 Eighth Regular Session )
4
5
6
7 SENATE
8 S. No. 888
9 ______________________________________________________________________
10
11 EXPLANATORY NOTE
12 ______________________________________________________________________
13

14 The 1987 Constitution, Article 2, Section 24 provides:

15 The State recognizes the vital role of communication and information in nation-

16 building.

17 Disinformation has dramatically fueled the decay of Philippine democracy to its

18 fiber in which lies have become accepted truths, fictitious stories have become facts,

19 and partisanship is entrenched in dangerous and violent proportion. This social

20 phenomenon has continued to erode, depreciate, and dishonor our values, civility,

21 ethics, and moral essence as the Filipino People, in our public discourse and national

22 interest. To prevent undermining our core principles and to save the last semblance of

23 our democratic ethos and representative governance, the Military has found it an

24 imperative undertaking and moral obligation to restore political and social order,

25 discipline, stability, and balance.

26 The Military Government, in its pursuit to give force and effect to the

27 aforementioned constitutional provision, needs to set up a body, to be known as the

28 National Security Communications Commission (hereafter referred to as the

29 “Commission”), that will be tasked with combating disinformation by state actors, private
30 individuals, foreign entities, and others. This Commission aims to systematically deter

31 adversaries, assist in determining national security priorities, and promote truthful and

32 educated dissemination of information on all media. Monitoring social media platforms

33 forms a key component of the Commission’s work as it seeks to flag up fake accounts

34 and information through partnering directly with social-networking websites and

35 providers, who are unwitting conduits for this democracy-crashing disinformation and

36 misinformation. Guidelines are promulgated in the subsequent sections of this Act.

37 We have acknowledged digitally-accelerated disinformation not just as a national

38 threat, but an existential imposition detrimental upon the Filipino psyche and

39 imagination. In the name of nation-building, people’s right to know, and putting the rule

40 of law on the line, the call for an external regulation of information and its distribution

41 can no longer be disregarded. As digital communications continue to evolve as

42 technology thrives in the face of globalization, it is the prerogative of the Military

43 Government to meet the challenging media landscape by harnessing the power of

44 social media for good and just cause.

45 SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC )
46 OF THE PHILIPPINES )
47 Eighth Regular Session )
48
49
50
51 SENATE
52 S. No. 888
53 ______________________________________________________________________
54
55 AN ACT

56 TO PREVENT DISINFORMATION, SOCIAL CONFLICT, AND HATE LANGUAGE

57 Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines

58 in Congress assembled:

59 SECTION 1. Short Title. – This Act shall be known as “The Anti-Disinformation

60 and Fake News Law.”

61 SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. – It is hereby declared the policy of the State

62 to guarantee people’s right to know truthful information as anchored in our fundamental

63 rights. Towards this end, it is likewise declared the policy of the State to prevent

64 disinformation and misinformation by prohibiting the proliferation of fake news, fake

65 information, and hate speech on all media as defined in Section 3 of this Act

66 SECTION 3. Definition of Terms. – The following terms, as used in this Act, shall

67 mean:

68 (a) Clear and Present Danger Test - shall refer to a doctrine used to test

69 whether limitations may be placed on free speech rights. It was

70 established in the case of Schenck v. United States which provides that,

71 “The question in every case is whether the words used are used in such

72 circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present

73 danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a

74 right to prevent.” It is one that will likely cause a catastrophe if not

75 immediately obstructed or neutralized.

76 (b) Disinformation - shall refer to false information deliberately and often

77 covertly spread, represented as truth, in order to influence public opinion

78 or deceive people. The person who disseminates such knows it is false; it

79 is an intentional lie.

80 (c) Fake News - shall refer to false stories or propaganda published which

81 appear to be authentic news, spread on the Internet or using other media,

82 usually created to influence political views or mislead and spread

83 misinformation or as a joke. However, it is by no means restricted to

84 politics, and seems to have currency in terms of general news.

85 (d) Hate Speech - shall refer to a communication that carries no meaning

86 other than the expression of hatred for some group, especially in

87 circumstances in which it is likely to provoke violence.

88 (e) Misinformation - shall refer to false information but the person

89 disseminating it believes that it is true; hence, an honest mistake. It arises

90 from ignorance.

91 (f) Multimedia - shall refer to the system of relaying information or

92 entertainment that includes many different forms of communication. It is a

93 field concerned with the computer-controlled integration of text, graphics,

94 drawings, still and moving images (video), animation, audio and any other
95 media where every type of information can be represented, stored,

96 transmitted, and processed digitally.

97 (g) The Commission - shall refer to the National Security Communications

98 Commission, a body organized by the Government to prevent

99 disinformation, fake news, and hate speech. This body shall consist of the

100 Multimedia Regulatory Unit and the Anti-Disinformation Unit, both of which

101 work hand in hand to prevent social conflict brought upon by the use of

102 various social networking sites.

103 (h) Only Me - shall refer to a privacy setting in social networking sites wherein

104 posts can be seen only by the person who posted the same.

105 (i) Social Media - shall refer to the collective online communication channels

106 dedicated to community-based input, interaction, content-sharing and

107 collaboration. Websites and applications dedicated to forums,

108 microblogging, social networking, social bookmarking, social curation, and

109 wikis are among the different types of social media. This may include, but

110 is not limited to, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Wikipedia, LinkedIn, Reddit,

111 and Pinterest.

112 (j) Social-networking Sites - shall refer to an online platform that enables

113 users to create public profiles within that website and form relationships

114 with other users of the same website who access their profile.

115 (k) All media - shall refer to both traditional (tri-media) and new media

116 (Internet-based) where information is presented, disseminated, distributed,

117 processed, and shared by users in public.

118 SECTION 4. Persons & Platforms Covered – Any person, natural or juridical,

119 including any government or private corporation, institution or company, who commits

120 disinformation against any person or entity, as provided for above, shall be liable under

121 this Act.

122 A person or entity who is duty-bound to act on complaints of disinformation under

123 this Act but fails, or refuses to do so, shall be deemed to have sanctioned the prohibited

124 act, and shall consequently be held liable for disinformation.

125 SECTION 5. Rules and Regulations. – This Act shall be headed by a governing

126 body to be known as the “National Security Communications Commission”. The

127 Commission shall be in charge of promulgating the necessary rules and regulations and

128 for the implementation of the provisions as provided in the Annex of this Act.

129 SECTION 6. Summary Proceedings - The petition shall be heard and decided

130 summarily by the regular courts, after due notice and hearing, and its decision shall be

131 executed after the lapse of (5) days from the receipt thereof by the losing party.

132 SECTION 7. Effect of Violation of Prohibition. – Social media platforms which fail

133 to abide by the guidelines provided by the State, jeopardizing national security and

134 disrupting social stability shall, after three (3) warnings by the Commission, be banned

135 from the Philippines for a period of not less than three (3) days but not more than one

136 (1) week, from the time proper action on the subject post has already been taken.

137 SECTION 8. Rules and Regulations. – The Commission shall promulgate the

138 rules and regulations for the implementation of the provisions of this Act.

139 SECTION 9. Repealing Clause. – Any law, presidential decree or issuance,

140 executive order, letter of instruction, administrative order, rule or regulation contrary to,
141 or inconsistent with, the provisions of this Act is hereby repealed, modified, or amended

142 accordingly.

143 SECTION 10. Separability Clause. – If any provision or part hereof, is held invalid

144 or unconstitutional, the remainder of the Act is hereby repealed, modified, or amended

145 accordingly.

146 SECTION 11. Effectivity Clause. – This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days

147 after its publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation.
148
149 ANNEX

150 RULES AND REGULATIONS

151 OF THE ANTI-DISINFORMATION AND FAKE NEWS LAW

152 Section 1. Scope

153 This Act shall be headed by the National Security Communications Commission

154 (hereafter referred as the “Commission”) which shall be divided into two (2)

155 subcommittees, namely, the “Anti-Disinformation Unit” and the “Multimedia

156 Regulatory Unit.” Each unit is primarily tasked to educate users of various

157 platforms and to prohibit the proliferation of fake news and hate speech,

158 respectively.

159 Section 2. Objectives

160 General: This Act aims to prevent, eradicate, and regulate the circulation of a)

161 hate speech and b) fake news on social media and all platforms which affect

162 public order and interest.

163 Specific:

164 a) This Act shall create an agreement between the Philippine government and

165 the various social media platforms.

166 b) This Act shall implement the regulations to the aforementioned social media

167 platforms.

168 c) This Act shall sanction the violations committed as enumerated.

169 Section 3. Subcommittees

170 The Commission shall be composed of two (2) subcommittees:

171 A. Multimedia Regulatory Unit

172 This Committee is mandated to primarily check, verify, and filter posts on social

173 media, such as but not limited to, Twitter, Facebook and other blogging sites

174 which are mediums (media) of communication.

175 B. Anti-Disinformation Unit

176 This Committee is mandated to provide information, education, communication

177 (IEC) materials to cultivate awareness and promote social media responsibility

178 among the general public.

179 Section 4. Guidelines

180 A. Multimedia Regulatory Unit

181 1. To identify hate speech and fake news through the clear and present

182 danger test

183 Given the present chaos, social media posts which pass the clear and present

184 danger test provokes the State to exercise its police power in order to maintain

185 national security and safety, and prevent divisiveness among Filipinos. Hence,

186 the social media platforms are now regulated and are given the task to filter

187 posts, as qualified below, and shall mandatorily change the privacy settings to

188 “Only me” and can no longer be viewed by the public.

189 2. To classify posts as hate speech and fake news

190 The posts referred to in the preceding paragraph shall be mandatorily set to

191 “Only Me.” These posts must be characterized to be: obscene, malicious,

192 libelous, seditious and other analogous posts which pass the clear and present

193 danger test.

194 B. Anti-Disinformation Unit

195 1. To integrate IEC materials to the basic and higher education curriculum

196 The Commission, together with the Department of Education (DepEd) and the

197 Commission on Higher Education (CHED), shall be tasked with the coordination

198 and implementation of educational modules which shall integrate a program

199 aimed on the rearing of the youth towards awareness and responsibility in the

200 use of social media. This may include, but is not limited to, detecting fake news

201 and verifying information spread in social media, and being smart on the

202 consequences of the posts made on social media.