CHR urges gov’t to ‘seriously’ investigate dummy Facebook accounts
MANILA, Philippines—The Commission on Human Rights decried the sudden creation of dummy Facebook accounts that copied names and identities of journalists, students, and ordinary citizens on the morning of June 7.
CHR spokesperson Atty. Jacqueline Ann de Guia said in a statement that groups and individuals who expressed critical views on the government were reported to have received death threats and intimidation from the supposed blank and duplicate accounts while others claimed to have gotten messages tagging them as communists.
“Such practices pose a threat to the people’s freedom of speech and expression, as well as the right to express grievance and demand for redress, especially from the government, without fear of getting persecuted,” said de Guia.
“In the face of fears towards laws and policies that may affect our human rights, we call on the government to investigate these cases seriously and take active steps in determining the cause of the creation of dummy accounts, including allegations of threats coming from these duplicate profiles.”
Facebook became rife with discussion the past weeks after Congress pushed for the controversial Anti-Terror Bill.
Some individuals who expressed their dissent of the bill woke up to find accounts bearing their names, but Facebook has since taken down some of those after a flood of reporting.
“Such practices pose a threat to the people’s freedom of speech and expression, as well as the right to express grievance and demand for redress, especially from the government, without fear of getting persecuted,” said de Guia.
The National Bureau of Investigation said that it will investigate the matter, though it previously said that it was a result of a glitch. National Privacy Commission, meanwhile, has coordinated with Facebook Philippines to investigate the matter.
Despite the statements of the NBI and of the NPC, the CHR continued to express its concern.
De Guia said that under the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, computer-related identity theft is a punishable offense.
“This underscores the idea of privacy as a fundamental human right, wherein individuals can assert against unwanted interferences in their lives as a matter of protecting one’s identity and human dignity,” said de Guia.
“The guarantee of privacy then, as equally protected by the Constitution, must both apply offline and online, as it should be with other human rights.”
