Could Philippine senator's bill criminalising fake news lead to censorship?

Prison sentencing under the proposed law depends on the status of the publishing entity

Philippine Senator Joel Villanueva filed a bill in late June that would criminalize the “malicious distribution of false news.” Media groups are warning it could lead to censorship.

Villanueva’s Senate Bill No. 1492 or “An Act Penalizing the Malicious Distribution of False News and Other Related Violations” defines fake news as “those which either intend to cause panic, division, chaos, violence, and hate, or those which exhibit a propaganda to blacken or discredit one's reputation.”

The bill assigns penalties to those who publish “fake news” and even to those who share it, potentially criminalizing social media users who may