To curb fake news, Senator Joel Villanueva filed a bill in Senate that aims to penalize any person or group who maliciously starts and spread fake stories or information in traditional and online media platforms.
The senator proposed Senate Bill 1492. In this bill, false news or information was said to “those which either intend to cause panic, division, chaos, violence, and hate, or those which exhibit a propaganda to blacken or discredit one’s reputation.”
In this bill, a person or group proven guilty will face a fine ranging between PHP100,000 (USD2,000) and PHP5 million (USD100,000). Moreover, they can also be put to jail between 1 and 5 years.
Other violators who contribute to the spread of the fake news or information will also be penalized with a fine between PHP50,000 (USD1,000) and PHP3 million (USD60,000), and imprisonment from 6 months to 3 years.
Violators who are public officials will face twice the monetary and imprisonment fines. They will also be banned from holding any public office.
Moreover, any media outfit or social media platform that fails, neglects, or refuses to delete false news will face a fine between P10 million and P20 million and face 10 to 20 years of imprisonment.
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