Sotto hails online libel ruling, vows not to use it vs critics
Senator Vicente “Tito” Sotto III. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – Although he welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision declaring online libel constitutional, Senator Vicente “Tito” Sotto III said he would not use the law to go after his critics in cyberspace.
“I have not seen the decision. Nevertheless, libel is libel whether in cyberspace or not,” Sotto said in a text message when sought to react to the SC ruling.
Asked if he was happy about the decision, the senator said: “Yes although I’m baffled at why it has to take the Supreme Court to tell people that libel is libel. We should not say bad things about other people.”
Asked again if he would use the law against his critics in the Internet, Sotto said: “I do not need that law to sue them if I wanted to. I know that their accusations are silly anyway.”
“The good thing now is the people who are affected by malicious people in cyberspace will now have a form to seek redress,” he said.
Sotto quickly pointed out though that “most netizens are responsible. There are just a few malicious bad eggs.”
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