The Department of Justice (DOJ) said that faking Facebook accounts is a crime that is punishable by six to 12 years imprisonment.
DOJ requested Facebook to take down more than a hundred dummy accounts who used names of several students and alumni of universities nationwide. The data, however, must be preserved as they would be used as evidence in filing criminal charges against the perpetrators.
“We have informed Facebook about this so that these could be taken down, but more importantly to preserve the data, whether we are talking about subscriber data, traffic data or content data of these accounts,” Justice Undersecretary Markk Perete said on Monday.
“As we all know, computer-related identity theft is a crime, which is defined and punished by [Republic Act No.] 10175, or the Cybercrime Prevention Act,” Perete told a news briefing.
Faking Facebook accounts is a serious criminal offense punishable by six to 12 years imprisonment, Perete added.
He reported that at least 112 people have complained to the DOJ that someone used their names to create another empty and dummy FB accounts.
The Department of National Defense (DND) and the Philippine National Police are conducting anti-cybercrime unit are also conducting separate investigations on the incident.
“It’s a cause for concern because it creates discordant voices among the people when there should not be,” Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said.
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Faking Facebook accounts is a form of planting evidence
Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate meanwhile said such dummy accounts could be the start of a crackdown on activists who oppose the Anti-Terror Bill. Such a strategy could be an “online tanim ebidensya (planting of evidence)” through identity theft, he added.
“If the proposed terror bill is enacted into law, real name owners of these fake accounts can be easily sent to jail for being framed by such means,” Zarate said.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque responded, “If he has the evidence, he should file the corresponding charge. But in a time of pandemic, he should avoid jumping to conclusions without any evidence.”
The controversial Anti-Terrorism bill passed the third and final reading at the Congress and now awaits President Rodrigo Duterte’s signature for it to become a law. Senator Panfilo Lacson, however, said the President could still veto the Anti-Terror Act.