cyberlibel

We must examine the primary activities that constitute the crime of cyber libel itself, as defined by the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, in order to decide if a person posting, sharing, commenting on, or liking a libelous message on social media is accountable for the crime of cyber libel.

Section 4(c)(4) of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, which punishes the crime of cyber libel, makes reference to Article 355 of the Revised Penal Code:

“(4) Libel. – The unlawful or prohibited acts of libel as defined in Art. 355 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended, committed through a computer system or any other similar means which may be devised in the future.”

and punishes the same set of acts defined under the Revised Penal Code, but outlines its commission, through “a computer system or any other similar means which may be devised in the future”.

Cyber libel is defined as a public and malicious imputation of a crime, or of a vice or defect, real or imaginary, or any act, omission, condition, status, or circumstance tending to cause the dishonor, discredit, or contempt of a natural or juridical person, or to blacken the memory of one who is dead, and committed through a computer system or any other similar means which may be devised in the future.

The following are the elements of cyber libel, based on Section 4(c)(4) of R.A. 10175, in relation to Articles 353 and 355 of the Revised Penal Code:

a. There must be an imputation of a crime, or of a vice or defect, real or imaginary, or any act, omission, condition, status, or circumstance.

b. The imputation must be made publicly, which requires that at least one other person must have seen the libelous post, in addition to the author and the person defamed or alluded to in the post.

c. The imputation must be malicious, which means that the author of the libelous post made such post with knowledge that it was false, or with reckless disregard as to the truth or falsity thereof. (Yunchengco vs. The Manila Chronicle Publishing Corporation, G.R. No. 184315, 25 November 2009.)

d. The imputation must be directed at a natural or juridical person, or one who is dead, which requires that the post must identify the person defamed, or at the very least, the person defamed is identifiable by a third person.

e. The imputation must tend to cause the dishonor, discredit or contempt of the person defamed. (Reyes, Luis B., Revised Penal Code, Fifteenth Edition, 2001, page 932.)

f. The imputation was done through the use of a computer system or any other similar means which may be devised in the future. (Sec. 4(c)(4) of R.A. 10175)