STAND FOR PEOPLE’S PRIVACY, FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION, AND GENUINE SOCIAL CHANGE!

NO TO SOCIAL MEDIA REGULATION!

We, the undersigned individuals and organizations, oppose the SIM Registration Law and the proposed Social Media Regulation Act as measures that fundamentally undermine privacy, freedom of expression, and democratic participation in the Philippines.

The SIM Registration Law has demonstrably failed to meet its stated objective of reducing scams and criminal activity. Despite compulsory registration and mass data collection, scam messages and fraudulent communications persist and, in many cases, have become more targeted and effective. What the law has successfully produced is not public safety, but the normalization of identity-linked communication and the large-scale accumulation of sensitive personal data in a context of weak institutional safeguards and repeated data breaches.

The SIM Registration Law represents a decisive shift toward routine state surveillance. By mandating the linkage of communication infrastructure to legal identity, the law lowers the threshold for monitoring, profiling, and targeting individuals and groups. Such systems have well-documented chilling effects on speech, political organizing, and journalistic activity. Expression under conditions of constant identifiability is not free expression.

The proposed Social Media Regulation Act extends this logic of control into the digital public sphere. Framed as a child-protection measure, it proposes age restrictions, mandatory identity verification, and biometric requirements such as facial recognition. These provisions do not address the structural causes of online harm, which are rooted in platform business models that prioritize engagement, data extraction, and algorithmic amplification. Instead, the bill advances state-centric solutions that expand surveillance capacity while leaving corporate power largely intact.

While concerns regarding children’s exposure to digital platforms are legitimate and supported by empirical research, they do not justify blanket surveillance, censorship, or identity-based restrictions on online participation. Evidence consistently shows that the most severe harms are associated with early childhood development and require interventions grounded in education, parental support, and platform accountability—not policing of users and mass monitoring of communications.

Of particular concern is the proposal to require the National ID system for SIM registration and to centralize telecommunications data under direct or indirect state access. In a political environment characterized by corruption, limited transparency, and inadequate data protection enforcement, such centralization significantly heightens the risk of abuse, unauthorized access, and political repression. Centralized biometric and communications databases are not neutral administrative tools; they are instruments of power.

Taken together, the SIM Registration Law and the Social Media Regulation Act reflect a broader trajectory toward a surveillance-oriented governance model—one that responds to social discontent, corruption scandals, and political dissent not through accountability and reform, but through monitoring, restriction, and control of information flows.

We assert and demand action on five urgent points:

1. Privacy is a fundamental right.
   The collection of personal information through SIM registration, National ID linkage, and biometric databases violates the right to privacy. We demand the repeal of the SIM Registration Law and the elimination of all policies that tie digital communication to state-monitored identity systems.
2. Freedom of expression must be protected.
   Mandatory identity verification and facial recognition on social media threaten public discourse and political organizing. We reject the Social Media Regulation Act and all similar measures that constrain online speech or punish dissent under the guise of “protection.”
3. Surveillance is not a solution to online harms.
   Scams, disinformation, and harmful contents are real problems, but mass monitoring is not the solution. Platforms should prevent these harms through better design, safety measures, and responsible policies, while education and parental guidance address risks effectively.
4. Centralization of sensitive data endangers democracy.
   Concentrating sensitive information in the hands of a corrupt, unaccountable state undermines citizens’ safety and erodes trust in public institutions. We demand an immediate halt to all data centralization initiatives.
5. Digital governance must respect human rights and accountability.
   All policies affecting online speech and privacy must adhere to transparency, proportionality, and democratic oversight. Surveillance and censorship are incompatible with democratic norms. 

We sign this manifesto because these laws institutionalize control under the guise of protection, creating a state apparatus that monitors, tracks, and restricts citizens without evidence of efficacy. Our signatures affirm our refusal to accept mass surveillance, our demand for accountable governance, and our commitment to a digital space where privacy and free expression are protected.

#JunkSIMReg #RejectSocMedReg #ResistStateSurveillance #FreeTheInternet