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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://peoplesdispatch.org/2022/06/23/philippines-blocks-over-two-dozen-websites-over-terrorist-tag-movements-raise-alarm/">peoplesdispatch.org</a>
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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Philippines blocks over two dozen websites over “terrorist” tag, movements raise alarm</h1>
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<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time" dir="ltr">June 23, 2022<br></div>
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<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><img src="cid:ii_l4tdpkwp0" alt="image.png" width="392" height="221"><br><br><p>Office
of the National Telecommunication Commission of the Philippines (NTC).
The NTC blocked 28 websites in the Philippines over allegations of links
with the banned Communist Party of the Philippines and its affiliates.
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<p><span>Over two dozen progressive media websites were banned in the
Philippines after being accused by security officials of having links
with “terrorist” groups. 28 websites were blocked on Wednesday, June 22,
by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) based on a letter
by outgoing National Security Adviser and National Security Council
(NSC) chief Hermogenes Esperon Jr.</span></p>
<p><span>The letter, which was forwarded to the NTC on June 6 and
published on June 22 along with the ban order, listed websites
supposedly “affiliated to and are supporting … terrorists and terrorist
organizations.” The “terrorist” organization in question is the banned
Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its affiliates.</span></p>
<p><span>The letter listed websites of CPP leader Jose Maria Sison and
that of the party’s political arm, the National Democratic Front of the
Philippines (NDFP). It also included NDFP’s official mouthpiece </span><i><span>Liberation</span></i><span> and various pro-Maoist and radical communist websites.</span></p>
<p><span>The NDFP, which previously functioned as a legal political
advocacy group, was designated as a terrorist group in June 2021 by the
controversial Anti-Terrorism Council, based on the controversial
anti-terror law passed under the Rodrigo Duterte administration.</span></p>
<p><span>NDFP members and leaders, many of whom were former communist
militants who gave up arms and even served as negotiators for the CPP
during the aborted peace process with the Philippines government, have
since faced several rounds of political repression due to the
“terrorist” tag.</span></p>
<p><span>Alarmingly, the recent list also targets progressive groups
over unsubstantiated allegations of association with the CPP and NDFP.
Only seven of the 28 websites named in Esperon’s list either have an
CPP-NDFP association or an ATC resolution claiming their links to the
communist group.</span></p>
<p><span>Prominent alternative news platforms like </span><i><span>Bulatlat</span></i><span> and </span><i><span>Pinoy Weekly</span></i><span>,
the websites of progressive parliamentary coalition Bayan Muna,
fisherfolk union Pamalakaya Pilipinas, Save Our Schools Network (SOS
Network), and Federation of Agricultural Workers (UMA Pilipinas), and
international progressive new media groups like </span><i><span>CounterPunch</span></i><span> and </span><i><span>Monthly Review</span></i><span> are on the list despite having no known links to the militant communist movement.</span></p>
<p><span>The only basis provided in Esperon’s letter to the NTC was the
past three resolutions deeming the CPP, NDFP, and CPP’s armed wing New
People’s Army (NPA) as “terrorist” organizations. None of these
resolutions mention any of the other groups or websites banned, many of
which function legally as political and social movements in the country.</span></p>
<p><span>Social movements and progressive groups have responded with
outrage against the blocking of these websites. The move comes with
barely a week left in the Duterte administration and it is feared that
this will lead to further attacks on independent media and social
movements organizing in the country. </span></p>
<p><span>In a statement responding to the government’s actions, </span><i><span>Bulatlat</span></i><span>
condemned the “brazen violation of our right to publish, and of the
public’s right to free press and free expression.” The media platform
stated that the ban was “downright unacceptable” as it was based on
“mere hearsay” of the NSC, and argued that this “sets a dangerous
precedent for independent journalism in the Philippines.”</span></p>
<p><span>“Blocking access to these sites leave a gap in discourse and in
the flow of information and highlights the threats posed by the
Anti-Terrorism Law on the freedom of expression and on freedom of the
press,” said the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines
(NUJP), echoing </span><i><span>Bulatlat’s</span></i><span> concerns.</span></p>
<p><span>The NUJP reacted to the blocking of </span><i><span>Bulatlat</span></i><span> and </span><i><span>Pinoy Weekly </span></i><span>saying that conflating criticisms of government policies with outright association with militant groups is “dangerous.”</span></p>
<p><span>“We have repeatedly warned against the dangers of red-tagging
and how the practice paints groups and people as legitimate targets for
threats, harassment and physical attacks,” the NUJP said in its
statement. “This labeling, in the form of an official government
document, magnifies that danger even more.”</span></p>
<p><span>“A mere conclusory statement that one is affiliated with and
supporting ‘terrorists and terrorist organizations’ without competent,
credible and admissible evidence is arbitrary and therefore has no legal
leg to stand on,” said Josa Deinla, spokesperson for the National Union
of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), which will be representing </span><i><span>Bulatlat</span></i><span> in their petition against the order.</span></p>
<p><span>Bayan Muna also strongly rejected the order. Bayan Muna’s
Renato Reyes urged telecommunication service providers “to reject these
illegal and baseless orders from the NTC and National Security Council”
of banning the websites.</span></p>
<p><span>“Blocking (websites of alternative media platforms) and
red-tagging the listed organizations undermines their work as legitimate
groups and sets a precedent for other organizations critical of the
Duterte and Marcos regimes,” said Neri Colmenares, former legislator and
chairperson of Bayan Muna. “It also sends a chilling effect to news
agencies that fearlessly deliver the news no matter how devastating it
can be.”</span></p>
<p><span>Carlos Zarate, deputy minority leader in the House of
Representatives and floor leader of Bayan, also came down heavily on the
move, calling it “another throwback to martial rule era and a blatant
violation of the constitutionally-guaranteed rights to freedom of
expression and of the press.”</span></p>
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