Author Topic: PHL bloggers group: SOPA, PIPA to hurt promotion of human rights  (Read 476 times)

hubag bohol

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January 22, 2012 12:25pm

 
Saying the Internet has become a vital tool in the free sharing of ideas, a human rights group on Sunday said the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) bills of the US pose a threat to the exercise of the right to freedom of speech.

A group of Filipino human rights defenders and bloggers also said the SOPA and the PIPA, if approved by the US Congress, could jeopardize the promotion and protection of human rights in the Philippines.

Earlier reports said that due to international pressure, the US backed down on the two anti-piracy bills.

In a statement, the Human Rights Online Philippines (HROnlinePH) said, "we use Internet as a platform in the promotion and protection of human rights in the Philippines. Limitations on this vital tool would jeopardize our work."

A report on GMA News Online said "These two pieces of legislation, both of which supposedly aim to protect intellectual property rights, have far-reaching implications on the Internet as we know it —potentially affecting the Philippines' 30 million web users, or one out of every five Pinoys."

Meanwhile, HROnlinePH admitted that freedom of expression in its line of work can be restricted in “very exceptional cases” such as expressions involving child pornography, violence against women, incitement to genocide, among others.

“Any attempt to restrict Internet access for reasons such as online piracy must be established by law that is in accordance with international human rights standards and must pursue legitimate grounds for restriction as set out in article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)," the group said.

Every State must ensure that everyone enjoys their right to freedom of opinion and expression by maintaining free flow of information on the Internet, and ensuring that the Internet is available, accessible and affordable to all, it added.

Moreover, HROnlinePH said the two bills would make the US one of the worst Internet censors in the world joining China and Iran.

"These governments [China and Iran] are using increasing sophisticated technologies and tactics which are often hidden from the public to censor online content and monitor and identify individuals who disseminate critical information about the government and engage in political activities critical to state affairs, which more often than not lead to arbitrary arrests and detention of individuals," it said. — Jerbert Briola /LBG, GMA News



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