Layer Claims PNP Can’t Monitor Social Media in Search of Quarantine Violators
The Philippine National Police (PNP) plans to monitor social media to search individuals violating health protocols during the quarantine period.
Police commanders were previously ordered to monitor social media as many quarantine violators are posting photos and videos holding a mass gathering event. This after Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, commander of the Joint Task Force COVID Shield received several reports regarding the issue.
However, the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) president Edre Olalia said that the plan of monitoring people on social media is alarming as it may intrude on people’s personal information. Police are prohibited to stalk people without being authorized by the courts.
“The police cannot just stalk people’s social media posts and messages — especially those with various privacy options — absent legal authority from the courts without violating the constitutional rights to privacy of communications and the Data Privacy Law and other laws and principles,” Olalia said in a statement.
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The lawyer, however, compliments the idea of monitoring the possible violation of health protocols using social networking apps saying it was a good idea. He said it became intriguing when placed in the context of a previous military bid to control the use of social media.
He also mentioned that the government maintains a false premise that people have lost their heads and become stubborn, so it has not been able to keep an almost constant watch on possible wrongdoings.
“To start with, the premise is wrong. The hardheaded (“pasaway”) narrative is inaccurate and blown out of proportion. Independent scientific data based on facts and algorithms have debunked this anecdotal demagoguery,” he said.
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