Senate bill wants to make spreading ‘fake news’ a crime

Stock photo shows a woman on a laptop showing "fake news."

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MANILA, Philippines (Updated 3:25 p.m.) — Sen. Jinggoy Estrada has filed a bill that seeks to make creating and spreading “fake news” a crime punishable under the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.

Under Senate Bill No. 1296, Estrada defines 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.”

“Ang mga clickbaits, propaganda at pagmamanipula ng mga lehitimong news segments para makapagpalaganap ng kasinungalingan, maling balita o disinformation ay pangkaraniwan na ngayon kaya mahirap na matukoy kung alin ang totoo sa mga pekeng balita. Masyado ng talamak ang mga ito,” Estrada said in a statement.

(Clickbaits, propaganda and manipulating legitimate news segments to spread lies, false news or disinformation is now common which is why it’s hard to determine what is true from fake news. This is too chronic.)

Full Story: https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2022/09/22/2211485/senate-bill-wants-make-spreading-fake-news-crime