Media law final exams today. 1pm exam, finished, examinees have left the room and spread the word, so the 1pm questions are now public. Here’s one of the bonus questions:
For 5 points! (Drumroll…)
66-71) Blogger JLo complained during a press con on the Cybercrime Law that her daughter would not be able to “rant” anymore in Facebook and Twitter whenever she is served “undercooked” or “overcooked” hamburger in Jollibee or McDonald’s because “it would be punishable as libel” under the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012. What would you advise JLo, based on your background in media law? Explain.
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i’ll be incommunicado until I’ve submitted the grades. Well, actually, I could still be reached but I won’t reply unless… close po ba tayo? ka-text ko po ba kayo, hindi po, salamat.
For that interregnum, will just be blogposting the amusing answers to the bonus questions starting tomorrow; maybe one a day.
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For this particular question, since there is no particular jurisprudence with exactly the same facts, there are no right and wrong answers; but the examiner is looking for the following: 1)What are the subjects of fair comment? [We took up at least nine (many!) subjects of fair comment, with one of them being so broad as to cover any matter of public interest; and 2)what the criteria for fair comment? Those comments are not libelous. Just state the relevant category and you’ll get the full points.] 3) If the examinee includes the following discussion, he/she will get wild applause from me: When is a so-called “rant”, “joke” etc. (a “like” in FB or a “he-he-he” after a re-tweet) covered by the fair-comment-rule and therefore not libelous? (broad category too; you’ll be happy if you know your media law) Abanganthe sagot! (Watch out for the answers!)
Libel is always content-based, it is not medium-based.
(Palakpakan! applause! big smile! confetti! balloons!)
The website of the National Telecommunication Commission website had been hacked Sunday late evening by a group that carries the logo apparently of Anonymous Philippines, bearing messages of protest against the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
It seemed like a see-saw battle for the NTC site as it alternated from a blank page to the hacked page as of this writing. At the time it was reported to have been hacked, the NTC official website could still be accessed alternately with the hacked page. The Google preview page however showed the official NTC page the entire time, from “memory”, like “cached”.
Blog admin received text messages at about past 12 midnight that the site had been hacked. Upon verification by googling the page at about 1:00am, the Google search page already showed a “hacked” link page with the message “We are Anonymous, We are legion, We don’t forgive, We don’t forget, United as one, Divided by zero, Expect us.”, but the official NTC could still be accessed. A few minutes later, it had been replaced by a blank page. Thirty minutes later, it had turned into an “Anonymous Philippines” hacked page.
The NTC is the government regulatory body that has supervision and control over all telecommunication companies. It is also empowered to grant, suspend, and revoke permits-to-operate for radio and television franchises. In effect, it has the power to shut down media installations.
Now, its site had been shut down.
(Blog admin will not give the link here; viewers may verify through the Google search page).
