Senate approves bill requiring SIM card registration with provision to 'unmask trolls'

MANILA, Philippines, December 17 ------ The Senate unanimously approved on third and final reading Thursday a bill that would mandate all public telecommunications entities to require subscribers to fill out a registration form and produce a valid identification card before purchasing a SIM card. At their final plenary session of the year, senators voted 22-0-0 to approve Senate Bill No. 2395 or the proposed SIM Card Registration Act which seeks to eradicate criminal activities aided by mobile phones, the internet or other electronic communication devices.

These criminal activities include terrorism, text scams, unsolicited indecent or obscene messages, bank fraud, trolling, hate speech, and the spread of digital disinformation or fake news. “At the core of this measure is the promotion of security in the country. It is timely and fitting given that various technology-aided crimes are rampant in the country today,” the bill's sponsor, Sen. Grace Poe, said in the explanation of her vote for the measure. “It is high time that we beef up our own infrastructures to address these threats to security." The bill penalizes the use of fictitious identities to register SIM cards, spoofing, and the unauthorized sale of registered SIM cards.

Source: philstar.com