Internet use in PH among world's most free

By Kim Arveen Patria | Yahoo! Southeast Asia Newsroom – Wed, Sep 26, 2012

Internet use in the Philippines is among the most free in the world, a report said Wednesday, amid Pinoys' worry over a newly approved law that critics say threaten online rights.

"People in the Philippines enjoy nearly unrestricted access to the Internet and other ICTs," independent watchdog Freedom Housesaid in a report dubbed "Freedom on the Net 2012."

The Philippines was rated "free," scoring 23 points in the report where a score of zero means "most free" and 100 "least free".

This placed the country 6th out of 47 in the list, a spot it shared with Italy.

Performing better were Estonia, with a score of 10 points; U.S., 12 points; Germany, 15 points; Australia, 18 points;  and Hungary, 19 points.

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In Asia, the Philippines is the only country deemed "free."

South Korea was a far second with a score of 34 points. It was deemed "partly free" along with India, 39 points; Indonesia, 42 points; and Malaysia, 43 points.

"To date, the [Philippine] government has steered clear of blocking access to any type of online content," said the report, which covered the January 2011-May 2012 period.

During the survey period, however, the report noted eight proposed measures on the "regulation of online content."

Such proposals have raised concerns the government is seeking to institute a "filtering infrastructure" which "could be potentially used for political and social censorship," Freedom House said.

Cry vs. cybercrime

"The law can be invoked to restrict access to and use of the Internet," Kabataan (youth) party-list Rep. Mong Palatino said in a phone interview.

Although the intention of the measure is to "protect rights," it may be misconstrued to support censorship, he added.

"The law will also definitely have a 'chilling effect' on press and Internet freedom," Palatino told Yahoo! Southeast Asia.

Although written before the enactment of the anti-cybercrime law, the report seems to echo Palatino's fear, as it cited the tendency of self-censorship in the Philippines.

"[G]iven that many news websites are online versions of traditional media—-many of whom self-censor due to the high levels of violence against journalists in the country—-it is fair to surmise that self-censorship is reflected in the content of online outlets as well," the report said.

This, even as it noted that "the Filipino blogosphere is rich and thriving."

"In 2010, the Philippines together with Indonesia led blog growth in Southeast Asia with an 18 percent increase from the previous year," Freedom House said.

"Both state and non-state actors actively use the internet as a platform to discuss politics, especially during elections," it added.

Palatino, for his part, urged Filipinos to further heighten online engagement on policy issues, particularly the Cybercrime Prevention Law.

"If netizens will oppose the absolute implementation of the law, then the measure may actually serve its intention," Palatino said.

Instead of moving to regulate the Internet in the Philippines, the government should strive for a policy environment that will spur its growth, Palatino added.

He noted: "One possible step is the implementation of an Internet Bill of Rights."

Stifling Internet growth in the Philippines are "mergers and acquisitions amid the country's market liberalization initiatives during the 1980s and the absence of anti-trust laws," Freedom House said.

It particularly cited the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) whose recent acquisition of Sun Cellular operator Digital Telecommunications Philippines, Inc. gives it a 70-percent stake in the country's telco market.

"The slow growth of the broadband industry is mainly due to the dominance of the privately-owned PLDT that has maintained a stronghold since the late 1920s," the report said.