Social Media brings harm than good (opposing)

Legality

Social media and technology offer us greater convenience and connectivity. It can also be a great tool of
expressing what we feel whereas it agrees with the 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines-
Article 3, Section 4 which is that no law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of expression,
or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for
redress of grievances. It can be implied that It is the right of a person to be free from undesired publicity
or disclosure and as the right to live without unwarranted interference by the public in matters with
which the public is not necessarily concerned. Republic Act No. 10173, otherwise known as the “Data
Privacy Act” is a law that seeks to protect all forms of information, be it private, personal, or sensitive. It
is meant to cover both natural and juridical persons involved in the processing of personal information.
The Data Privacy Act of 2012 is a 21st century law to address 21st century crimes and concerns. It
protects the privacy of individuals while ensuring free flow of information to promote innovation and
growth; regulates the collection, recording, organization, storage, updating or modification, retrieval,
consultation, use, consolidation, blocking, erasure or destruction of personal data; and ensures that the
Philippines complies with international standards set for data protection through National Privacy
Commission (NPC).

Under RA10173, people whose personal information is collected, stored, and processed are called data
subjects. Organizations who deal with your personal details, whereabouts, and preferences are
dutybound to observe and respect your data privacy rights. Under R.A. 10173, your personal data is
treated almost literally in the same way as your own personal property. Thus, it should never be
collected, processed and stored by any organization without your explicit consent, unless otherwise
provided by law. Information controllers usually solicit your consent through a consent form. Aside from
protecting you against unfair means of personal data collection, this right also requires personal
information controllers (PICs) to notify you if your data have been compromised, in a timely manner. As
a data subject, you have the right to be informed that your personal data will be, are being, or were,
collected and processed.

In Republic Act No. 11313 or “The Safe Spaces Act”, its aim is to ensure individual’s sense of personal
space and public safety, the Safe Spaces Act addresses gender-based sexual harassment in public areas
such as streets, privately-owned places open to the public, and public utility vehicles, among others. It
also extends the protection even to cyberspace, and provides for prohibited acts and their
corresponding penalties. The Safe Spaces Act also recognizes Gender-Based Online Sexual Harassment.
It is defined as any online conduct targeted at a particular person that causes or is likely to cause
another mental, emotional, or psychological distress, and fear of personal safety. These sexual
harassment acts include unwanted sexual remarks and comments, threats, uploading or sharing or one’s
photos without consent, video and audio recordings, cyberstalking and online identity theft.

The Republic Act No.8792 also known as “Electronic Commerce Act” is an act providing for the
recognition and use of electronic commercial and non-commercial transactions, penalties for unlawful
use thereof, and other purposes. The State recognizes the vital role of information and communications
technology (ICT) in nation-building. The need to marshal, organize and deploy national information
infrastructures, including their interconnection to global information networks, with the necessary and
appropriate legal, financial, diplomatic and technical framework, systems and facilities. It also needs to
ensure network security, connectivity and neutrality of technology for the national benefit. Due to the
pandemic, most of the government offices we deal with, such as the Board of Investments (BoI), the
Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), the Securities and
Exchange Commission (SEC) and even some Local Government Units (LGU), resorted to the use of e-mail
as the main mode of communicating with clients. Memorandum circulars (MC) were issued to address
the challenges in sending and receiving reporting requirements while working remotely. For instance,
the SEC issued MC No. 10 series of 2020 to facilitate the receipt of submission of reporting requirements
of corporations and other entities. The MC allowed submission by electronic mail (e-mail) and the use of
electronic signature, as defined by RA 8792, for the reports and files. It was evident that the issuance
was a temporary solution to the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) being implemented at that time
as companies were still required to ensure that reports be accompanied by wet-ink signatures of
authorized signatories, with hard copies of the documents to be filed after the quarantine.

With that being said, having the endless possibilities of what can social media can do good to you, we
can conclude that social media brings better than harm. Knowing our rights on social media and the laws
that covers it can help us feel safe and protected to use social media without having worries on what
might happen to us.