Responsible use of the Internet, online access and slow Internet speed were issues discussed during yesterday’s multi-stakeholders consultation for the draft of the Philippine Declaration on Internet Rights and Principles.
Representatives from the academe, bloggers, civil society and nongovernment organizations in Cebu gave their input so the the declaration could reflect, their hopes and aspirations for the Internet experience in the Philipppines.
“The speed is really slow especially during peak hours. You have to stay up until the late hours of the night to get a good connection,” said Karen Cardoso of Akbayan Youth.
In a recent study, the Philippines was the second slowest in Asia in terms of Internet speed and one of the most expensive in cost of service.
Loss of privacy is another compromise, which human rights enshrined in the Constitution, said Nika Dumlao, Internet rights coordinator of the Foundation for Media Alternatives (FMA), one of the organizers of the initiative.
She said the bikini case in a private school in Cebu City led to a Supreme Court decision that was not favorable to privacy.
“Though your privacy can be compromised, your right to privacy should always be upheld,” Dumlao said.
In the case involving graduating students in St. Theresa’s College in Cebu, who were not allowed to attend their graduation rites, the high court said there was no violation of right to privacy when the school punished them for posting their bikini photos on their Facebook accounts.
“I think it is very important to include the responsibility of the Internet users. We have seen so many irresponsible users of the Internet.
They just post anything they feel like posting, without considering what would be its effect to other people,” said Jun Sa-a, managing director of Cebu Educational Development Foundation for Information Technology (CEDF-IT).
He said these are mostly rants and criticisms posted on social media against a person, which can easily spread like wildfire, maligning the subject of a post.
“It is really dangerous when you put too much freedom in this country,” he added.
A similar consultation was held in Luzon and Mindanao.
Dumlao said once the declaration is finalized, the organization aims to get the support of the people in passing the declaration to Congress for it to become a law.