More than three years after its filing, a Quezon City (QC) court has granted Bulatlat’s petition to nullify a memorandum that ordered the blocking of its website and 26 others.
In a ruling dated Nov. 18, QC Regional Trial Court Branch 104 ruled the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) had “no legal basis” to issue the memorandum, saying it violated constitutional guarantees to the freedom of the press, speech and expression.
“Its [memorandum] issuance constitutes an unconstitutional prior restraint in the form of a content-based restriction which violates the constitutional guarantees of free speech and expression,” the 23-page ruling read.
On June 8, 2022, NTC issued a memorandum directing internet service providers to implement an “immediate blocking” of 27 websites, including independent media organizations Bulatlat and Pinoy Weekly, which were baselessly “found to be affiliated with and supporting terrorists and terrorist organizations.”
The administrative agency said it acted upon a letter from then-national security adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr., who requested to block the said websites. Esperon invoked the controversial Anti-Terrorism Act to arbitrarily categorize the listed websites as affiliated with terrorist organizations.
“They [the 27 websites] have established pervasive online presence through their websites that they continually use to publish propaganda and misinformation campaigns in order to malign the Philippine government, recruit new members, and to solicit funds from local and international sources,” Esperon said in the letter.
But the QC court saw the blocking as a form of the government’s censorship of publication, saying it “falls squarely within the ambit of prior restraint.”
“By preventing websites’ publication from reaching its audience, the NTC’s issuance effectively imposed censorship even before the alleged objectionable content could be subject to any judicial determination,” the court ruled.
While NTC argued it issued the memorandum pursuant to the Anti-Terrorism Council, citing a provision under Section 46(m) of Republic Act No. 11479 requiring the agency to “render assistance” to the council, the court said it does not mandate “blind obedience.”
Independent news organization Bulatlat said no investigation, hearing or verification was conducted before the agency issued the memorandum.
The local court’s ruling echoed Bulatlat’s earlier argument that “the NTC should have undertaken factual assessment, verification of alleged affiliations [of the 27 websites], and the consequent imposition of restrictions upon the websites included in the Memorandum.”
The NTC’s order to block the websites does not fall within the agency’s mandate, which is limited to the “regulation, supervision, and adjudication” of telecommunications services, the court said. This means it had no authority to suppress or restrict any content or online publications, as stated otherwise in the memorandum.
Bulatlat said the ruling is a “big win” for press freedom, free speech and expression, and against the use of the Anti-Terror Law in ways that violate its rights.
“The local court’s decision unblocks all the 27 websites, making this a victory against state censorship, and against the use of ‘anti-terrorism’ rhetoric to justify the violation of free speech and expression,” Bulatlat said in a statement.
“Bulatlat will remain vigilant as it continues its human rights journalism, defending media freedom and the people’s right to free expression,” it added.
