Given the recent enactment of the Anti-Cybercrime Law (which threatens Internet freedom), I was kind of expecting some takedown notices on content posted online. But I didn’t expect that a two-year-old reblog of mine on Tumblr would warrant this kind of action:
Anti-Cybercrime Law in action?
If you’re interested in reading the supposedly libelous post, it was a reblog from another person’s Tumblr, to which I just added my own commentary, which was “Hmm. Should I hit him with my bachelor’s degree in Political Science cum laude, or my master’s degree in Media Studies – Journalism? Maybe I should just make fun of his use of quotation marks.” I was reacting to someone else’s comment on a post he made on Facebook. In no way was I the source of any comment that could be construed as libel.
So, lawyers and media practitioners out there, what are my options? I have three days daw.
UPDATE 10:04 p.m.:
UPDATE 10:30 p.m.:
UPDATE 11:31 p.m.:
I’ve screencapped the Tumblr reblog instead of linking to it from here and blotted out names and faces. The guy probably thinks it’s hurting his hireability. It really would have been better if he had asked me nicely to remove the post. However, I’m not a spiteful person; what he did was two years ago and on reviewing the original post, kinawawa sya. So I removed it from public view because I felt sorry for him, which is more than what he deserves for threatening me with legal action. But that doesn’t mean the original post doesn’t exist elsewhere and isn’t still searchable.
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LMFAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Wasn’t he the one who posted it on his Facebook?
the law was just signed this year. the “offending” post was in 2009. i don’t think it is covered by that law (Act of 2012 nga e!). ask him to consult real lawyers 🙂
question – so, all the supposed “libelous” post prior to the legalization of CyberCrime Law are spared from the said law? i have a tumblr post regarding Sotto’s plagiarism act. not that I’m afraid of lawsuit, it’s just that i don’t wanna remove that post just in case someone asked me to remove it. thanks!
Nullum Crimen Nulla Pena Sine Lege
hey jed. martial law is sooo 1940’s. you and your ilk may fight it all you want, but for now, we have information and WE WILL USE IT. You bring your lawyers. You try to keep us in the dark ages. You will fail.
I guess the guy really has to consult his lawyers. Laws in the Philippines cannot be enforced retroactively. The last section of the Bill of Rights takes care of his threats.
Sandali. Is this blog post of mine a potential libel lawsuit? Maybe I should black out his name from the screencaps.
Besides, in law, there’s also what you call clean hands doctrine, which essentially states that the person who is suing should be free from fault. Here, it doesn’t look that way. He ‘slandered’ the 2 schools first, which can then come after him for attempting to tarnish their respective reputations. If the attempt weren’t so lame, that is.
Please tell the person threatening you with suit that the law he is citing is not yet in effect. It will be in effect sometime in October or late September, assuming my math is correct.
Anything done now can’t run afoul against provisions of law that are not yet in effect.
Basis- I’m a lawyer.
You have more than 3 days. The new law has not taken effect yet.
It is interesting that you have a “Clean Hands” doctrine in the Philippines. Similar Information Technology Act in India (for example) does not have such provisions. You can check the following links on India IT Act:
http://www.cis-india.org/advocacy/igov/blog/primer-it-act
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Punjab-cops-hound-whistleblower-family/articleshow/6144969.cms
http://bangaloremirror.com/article/1/201002102010021009443012ece2cab8/This-techie-is-not-a-terrorist.htm
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main39.asp?filename=Ne280608deepthroat.asp
but also in India are some refusals to order frivolous complaints (similar to non-clean hands cases) for example:
http://www.techgoss.com/Story/406S11-CERT-refused-to-ban-3-school-blogs.aspx
Really, in Philippines Mr Teofisto Guingona seems to be doing a great job in this area.