I Accuse:* A Protest Against The Cybercrime Law
I stand here today to accuse.
It begins, I think, with defining the role of free speech. We are – even nominally – free because we are free to talk. We are free to engage, and we are free to be engaged. We are free to discourse, and we are free to be the subjects and objects of discourse. We cherish freedom of speech and guard it jealously; we protect it with vigilance, and for many of us, we stake our lives on it. And with this freedom comes the freedom to defend, and the freedom to accuse.
I accuse Republic Act No. 10175 – the Cybercrime Prevention Act – of taking away from me that freedom. I accuse the government, for their omissions and commissions, in making that act possible. I accuse those who support this law without exception – and claiming that the act of writing well is the best protection against online libel – of surrendering my rights along with theirs.