As you may have noticed, the blog's layout is now almost completely black. This is my way of protesting the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 which is currently being passed in my country. I was initially going to black out the entire blog, but decided otherwise, because continuing to write is my other way of protesting -- this bill will not stop me from writing. However, the comments below posts are blacked out, as a symbol of what is already happening as I write this. You can still read the comments though, by clicking "post a comment".
Pop Reviews Now will be fully-functional, and very much alive, until the end of this protest, or until it is affected/taken down by the said act (whichever comes first).
If there's something I've had since day one of this blog, it's my love for writing about music, for sharing what I write through this blog. As you know, no matter what I'm doing on the side, SOOMPI, OMGKPOP, The Kpop Nation, or even Popjustice now, my first priority is always, and will always be, Pop Reviews Now. I built this blog from the ground up, and you have seen me go through everything I could possibly go though, some of you even being the cause of those experiences. Without this blog I would've never gotten any of those big jobs, I would've never won the first award I ever won for something I love doing. But over and above that, majority of the lessons I've learned these past four years were learned here on this very blog.
This is where I began, and, until the time comes when I absolutely cannot blog anymore, this is where I will end. The problem is, the end may come sooner than I thought it would. Much, much sooner. And it won't be by choice.
My government has passed The Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, an act that can, at any time, take down not only Pop Reviews Now and four long years of blood, sweat and tears, but countless other blogs that have gone through the same, if not more. We will all just wake up one day, me included, to find this blog gone, for reasons even I might not know of.
“When a computer data is prima facie found to be in violation of the provisions of this Act, the DOJ shall issue an order to restrict or block access to such computer data.”
This was drafted by a senator who was a target of cyber bullying recently, and my response to him? That's not how you retaliate. I very well understand, and know from firsthand experience, how painful and traumatizing cyber bullying is, because I carry memories of it every single day, but this new act is going too far. I can just say "hi" on my blog, I can just retweet something I find amusing, and be put in jail because someone thinks it's libel.
It's scary. It's scary because I may be put in jail for speaking my mind, I may be put in jail for trying to chase my dreams despite poverty, and what's worse, I may lose all my work in the process.
I'm not forcing any of you to sign the petition below, because I believe in your right to an opinion, but I just want you to know that I may very well have lost my right to an opinion already. What you do with that information is up to you, but I want to give you the option to fight for the rights of everyone in the Philippines.
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