EDITORIAL - Free speech not a guerrilla tactic

The reaction of people to the new Cybercrimes Prevention Law recently signed by President Aquino is understandable. Filipinos are jealous of their freedoms, and indeed there is a danger that the new law can be used to curtail, even stifle, free speech.

But that is only one side of the story. And if we truly value our freedoms, we must also be prepared to value the same freedoms as they apply to others. And here is the other side: Those who use cyberspace must be held as accountable as those who use mainstream media.

While both may claim to be mediums of information and the free exchange of ideas, they do not enjoy the same environments in the enjoyment and exercise of certain rights. Mainstream media are openly identified and are easily verifiable. Sadly not all are in cyberspace.

It is an indubitable fact that many in social media do not use their real names nor post their real pictures. Under the cloak of such sweeping anonymity, they naturally can write in even more unbridled manner than their counterparts in mainstream media do.

One more thing we have to face — no matter how much we guard and cherish our freedoms, we have to acknowledge the fact that there is no absolute exercise of such freedoms, that where such exercise impinges or injures the rights of others, certain limits need to be recognized.

That is what needs to be understood and underscored in the new Cybercrimes Prevention Law, that while we must guard against its possible misuse and abuse, we must also cherish the rights of others that the same law seeks to protect.

We cannot fairly and judiciously claim only for our own benefit such rights and freedoms that God chose to gift his civilized people. We must also recognize and respect the same rights and freedoms for others.

And if every other logical and civilized argument fails, there is always this gem of commonplace wit to draw inspiration from — that if you can dish it out, you must also be able to take it in. Let us enjoy free speech in the open, not practice it as some guerrilla tactic.