‘Nothing wrong, illegal’ with PNP monitoring social media for quarantine violators — Roque

MANILA, Philippines — Palace sees nothing “wrong” nor “illegal” about the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) monitoring of social media platforms in search of people violating the community quarantine protocols.

“Well alam niyo po yung cyber crime act natin, nakasaad po doon ang mga pinagbabawal. Hindi naman po pinagbabawal ang social media monitoring so wala pong mali doon sa ginagawa ng pulis kung tinitignan lang nila kung ano yung mga nakapost sa social media,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in an online briefing.

(Our cybercrime act indicates the things that are not allowed. It does not include social media monitoring so there is nothing wrong with what the police are doing, if they are checking on what is posted in social media.)

“So yung pagmomonitor po, hindi po yan ilegal. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that,” he added.

(So monitoring is not illegal. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.)

People “inadvertently” sharing photos of violations such as mass gathering and celebrations online prompted the police to launch such measure, Joint Task Force COVID-19 Shield chief Police. Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar earlier said.

Some groups expressed concern and even criticized PNP for its move to monitor social media posts, saying it would violate constitutional and privacy rights.

But for Roque — who himself was caught in a controversy for his jaunt in Subic last July to swim with the dolphins — said that once someone posts on social media, they already somehow “waived” their privacy.

“Well sa tingin ko yung pagmomonitor ng social media, e pinost po yan e, so parang nagkaroon ng waiver of privacy dyan kapag posted na po ang isang bagay sa social media,” he said.

(I think when it comes to monitoring social media, you already posted so there’s like a waiver of privacy when it is already posted on social media.)

EDV