Cybercrackdown on
gays feared
By
PROGAY Philippines
September 25, 2012
MANILA –
Transgender and gay members of an activist group are wary that the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 signed this month by President
Benigno Aquino III will unleash a massive wave of extortion,
harassment, and sufferings in the hands of law enforcement and
anti-gay groups.
The Progressive Organization
of Gays (ProGay) said that Republic Act 10175 (http://www.gov.ph/2012/09/12/republic-act-no-10175/)
contains vague provisions that can criminalize a wide array of shared
electronic activity between consenting lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender (LGBT) adults, and also invade their personal privacy.
Particularly worrying to
LGBTs is the definition of Cybersex crime, which could fetch six to
ten years of jail time or a fine of up to half a million pesos (USD
11,950). "The willful engagement, maintenance, control, or operation,
directly or indirectly, of any lascivious exhibition of sexual organs
or sexual activity, with the aid of a computer system, for favor or
consideration".
"There are many transgenders
who are forced by poverty into baring their bodies before a webcam
just to feed their families and send their siblings to school, and
they are unwilling victims of trafficking by profiteers. This law can
potentially double the victimization of poor trans and gay persons
because the terms 'willful' and 'favor and consideration' are so vague.
The law can deem trafficked persons consented to work for pay,"
explained Clyde Pumihic, secretary general of ProGay Baguio.
Pumihic added that for
almost a century, transgender and gay Filipinos engaged in sex were
targetted by police who used the recently abolished Anti-Vagrancy
provision of the Revised Penal Code in the streets and bars. "But now,
they have this PNP and NBI fielding the Office of Cybercrime agents
who will stalk LGBTs by the thousands without even having to prowl on
patrol cars, they just have to use a keyboard to down LGBTs. It's like
having the Vagrancy Law on Internet."
Pumihic also warned that the
Cybercrime law can also be used by thugs, syndicates, and other
private violent groups in entrapping and blackmailing innocent LGBTs
who are simply surfing online for dates or fleeting acts of exposure.
"Instead of protecting us
from the real cybercriminals, this law is indeed unwittingly turning
us into cybercriminals!"
The group also foresees
increase risk for HIV and STD transmission if online sex is
criminalized. "Consenting online sex using just shared images and
words in real time are a safer alternative to meeting strangers who
may use force to commit unsafe sex or life-threatening violent
behavior. This law clearly can contribute to deaths by hate crimes or
illnesses if online sex is penalized."
The ProGay leader appealed
to the Supreme Court to declare the law unconstitutional because of
its invasive threats against the private lives of LGBTs. The group
also called on Aquino to instead work to pass the Antidiscrimination
Law in Congress and provide decent jobs with living wages to save
trans and gay persons from the clutches of cyberprostitution.