Key Developments ● The Philippine government has a plan to criminalize “fake news” in the country. However, criminalization can lead to more harm than good as there is a potential that it can be used against free speech. ● The weaponization of social media continues well after Ferdinand Marcos Jr. became president by disseminating disinformation and misinformation and other problematic content for his political advantage. ● Red-tagging, a campaign that brands activists and journalists as communists, and which intensified during the tenure of Rodrigo Duterte, has also continued during the tenure of Marcos Jr. Victims, dissidents, and opposition politicians are red-tagged, and as a result face the risk of arrest, harassment, and even murder. ● 1. Sonshine Media Network (SMNI), which is owned by Apollo Quiboloy, a fugitive religious leader and close ally of former president Rodrigo Duterte, has been suspended. Its suspension is allegedly political motivated as the network accused the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Martin Romualdez, Marcos Jr.’s cousin, of extravagant travel expenses. The channel is a pro-Duterte partisan media company, which features programs known for red-tagging. Overview The Rodrigo Duterte administration from 2016 to 2022 was a dark period for human rights in the Philippines. While infamous for the so-called “war on drugs” that saw the killing of drug suspects by the thousands, Duterte and his supporters also openly attacked critics both online and offline, including through judicial harassment for politically motivated charges, and redtagging. 68 The year 2023 marks the first year of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as president. Although his administration appears to be less violent compared to his predecessor, positive developments on human rights are still limited. This is unsurprising given that he is the son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr., whose two-decade rule was characterized by widespread and grave human rights violations. There were no positive or negative policy developments related to digital rights during Marcos’s first year. However, lawmakers