Philippines passes law to tackle anonymous social media abuse

The Bill is a rare push in a country notorious for online trolling, disinformation and use of anonymous social media accounts. - Reuters

MANILA (Reuters): Philippines lawmakers have approved legislation requiring social media users to register their legal identities and phone numbers when creating new accounts, a senator said on Thursday (Feb 3), in an ambitious move to thwart online abuse and misinformation.

The bill is a rare push by a legislature to compel users to disclose details that would allow them to be traced, in a country notorious for online trolling, disinformation and use of anonymous social media accounts.