Spread of wrong information tagged crime in Dagupan bill

DAGUPAN CITY—People circulating fake news could get a six-month jail term, plus a P5,000 fine, should the city council pass a proposed antifake news ordinance here.

“Misinformation could lead to disastrous decisions, especially in government service, during times of calamities and emergencies and other events involving life, property and liberty,” said Councilor Jose Netu Tamayo, who sponsored the proposed ordinance. But the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) expressed reservations about the proposal.

In a March 20 letter to the city council, KBP president, Herman Basbano, said a law regulating fake news “could very well be used to suppress unfavorable news and criticisms against government officials and agencies.”

In his proposed ordinance, Tamayo defined fake news or misinformation as “any event reported or published as true when it substantially alters facts.”

The filing of the ordinance was prompted by social media posts in January that said a bomb exploded at the Nativity scenes displayed along a major road in the city.

In his response to the KBP letter, Tamayo said on his Facebook account that he wanted a law that would penalize those who spread, report and publish false information. —GABRIEL CARDINOZA