AS early as this week, the Philippine government may issue regulations requiring all social media platforms to verify the identity of Philippine users, or else (presumably) be banned from operating in the country. This is according to an announcement last week by the Secretary of the Department of Information and Communications Technology, Henry Aguda, who claimed the measure is necessary to combat cybercrime and other online offenses.
Yes, the abbreviation for the Department of Information and Communications Technology is DICT, and yes, the government and the media here use that abbreviation unironically.
DICT head Aguda believes that the new rule will curb online fraud, cyberbullying, and defamation, the last being an important consideration because this is one of the few countries in the world where libel (online or otherwise) is still a criminal offense. Obviously, it is a stupid idea that will put vulnerable people and groups at grave risk, create a field day for identity thieves, and have a chilling effect on free speech. Many civil society and professional groups have come out hard against the idea, and one of my Editorial Board colleagues wrote a scorching editorial condemning the proposal on Jan. 25.
One of the most maddening things about government here in these enchanted isles is its absolute inability to learn from its own stupid mistakes. In 2022, a law was passed requiring registration and identity verification for SIM cards, the intention being to curb the epidemic of scam and spam text messages. It had precisely zero effect on that problem, but on the bright side, it did create a whole new black market for bootleg SIM cards and fake identities.
From my own point of view, the new proposal will not affect me in the least; I have very little social media presence, and none at all in the “big four” being targeted, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. I personally think social media is a fatal cancer that is contributing to the death of civilization, but that is neither here nor there; people should not have their safety, privacy, and basic right of expression threatened by retarded nanny-state ideas.
Unfortunately, DICT can act autocratically in most things, and it is unlikely protest from the public will dissuade it from this disastrous course of action. So, I’ve already made a plan to embarrass the government generally, and that critical-thinking deficient clown Henry Aguda specifically, when it is implemented. I will go to one of Manila’s well-known areas for obtaining illicit things, and get a fake ID with a suitably mocking name on it. For example, I suggested “Hugh G. Rex Yan” to my editorial colleague. Then I will I sign up for a verified TikTok account, which will contain nothing but videos of dogs’ butts, and send a link to DICT. See if I don’t.
