Censorship in the Philippines
[2] Although considered widespread by various American and Filipino scholars, the level of censorship varied depending on the sitting Governor General.
[7] As part of the imposition of Martial Law during the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos in 1972 until the 1980s, the press was heavily regulated and censored.
Among these publications that form part of the alternative press were Jose Burgos' WE Forum and Pahayagang Malaya; Veritas, edited by Felix Bautista and Melinda de Jesus; Raul and Leticia Locsin's Business Day (present-day Business World); Eugenia Apostol and Leticia Magsanoc's Inquirer and Mr. and Ms. Magazine.
The phenomenon of samizdat or xerox journalism also proliferated, which involved the dissemination of news clippings, usually from publications abroad that were not checked by the government's censors.
Marcos accused Arnold Zeitlin of the Associated Press of "malicious and false reporting" during his coverage of the fighting between the government forces and Muslim Filipino separatists in Jolo, Sulu.
[11] A year later, the government denied the visa application of Bernard Wideman, a news correspondent of The Washington Post and Far Eastern Economic Review.
[17] By controlling mass media, the martial law dictatorship was able to suppress negative news and create an exaggerated impression of economic progress.
[18] With the advent of the internet in the Philippines, there was debate regarding the necessity of censorship in the 1990s to block cyber pornography in response to reports of Filipinos being prostituted through online means.
[26] Also in 2021, the police and the military pressured three state university libraries to remove reference books about the peace process between the government and the National Democratic Front.
The government agency can classify a film or television program an X rating, effectively banning the work from public screening.
The MTRCB is, however, criticized for its views on what constitutes obscenity, and is also accused of giving the X rating to materials for political reasons such as Ora Pro Nobis by Lino Brocka, which gained controversy for its allegations of continued human rights violations in the Philippines after the 1986 EDSA revolution.
Most free-to-air television broadcasters censor out nudity, blood and gore, cadavers, scenes of weapons pointed at people and illegal drugs, usually by blurring, graying out or cutting footage.
[citation needed] The Philippine National Police restricts release of information related to victims and suspects of crimes, to protect privacy rights or uphold court orders.
[29][30] The middle finger gesture is generally blurred out (most notably in the 2016 attack ad against Rodrigo Duterte paid for by Antonio Trillanes).
The governor general suppressed Diario de Manila for allegedly inciting Filipinos to rebel against the Spanish colonial government.
However, it said that "many news websites are online versions of traditional media which self-censor due to the level of violence against journalists in the Philippines".
It has also noted that the internet penetration of the country remains low which it attributes to PLDT's "de facto monopoly" and lack of infrastructure and bureaucratic government regulation.
[33] In 2017, a large number of pornographic websites, including Pornhub, Xhamster, and RedTube, were blocked under suspicion of hosting child pornography.
[37] In 2011, Cultural Center of the Philippines took down the group exhibit Kulo (Boil), following pressure from religious leaders and politicians to remove the multimedia installation "Poleteismo" by Mideo Cruz.
The installation prompted public debate on art and censorship[38] and its subsequent removal sparked protests from democracy and freedom of expression advocates.
