the Gender-Based Electronic Violence Bill. The said measures seek to strengthen the existing Anti-Rape Law, criminalize peer-to-peer sexual harassment and impose penalties on perpetrators of misogynistic and homophobic attacks on social media and other multimedia sites. xxv,xxvi 16. In September 2012, the Cybercrime Prevention Act (R.A. 10175) was passed to address the growing cybercrime incidences in the country. The act authorizes state enforcers to collect traffic data and requires service providers to cooperate and assist in law enforcement by preserving data for six months and disclosing information to aid investigation.xxvii Online libel under the Cybercrime Prevention Act imposes penalties harsher than offline libel. Human rights activists opposed this law as this is a rights violation that the Supreme Court failed to rectify when it considered its constitutionality in 2014. It is believed to be violative Article 19 paragraph 3 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) on freedom of expression. 17. Human rights activists and gender advocates lobbied against the law as it lacks reiteration of women’s rights and focuses mainly on cyber-libel and freedom of speech. According to them, the provision on “cybersex”xxviii laid down under the law endangers women’s rights as elements of the crime are not well-defined, too vague and overbroad. The law allegedly fails to consider the transnational nature of cybersex where site owners or operators are outside the jurisdiction of the Philippines, therefore causing women found in local cybersex dens to be the ones arrested and put behind bars.xxix 18. As a countermeasure to the law, the late Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago introduced a crowdsourced billxxx entitled the Magna Carta for Philippine Internet Freedom (MCPIF) in 2014 which sought to repeal the Cybercrime Prevention Act. The bill, among others strengthens the right of free expression, protects privacy rights of users and aspires towards internet access for all. It likewise seeks to address the overbreadth and vagueness of provisions set forth in RA 10175. Initiatives to bridge the gender divide 19. The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is initiating a Free Wifi Internet Access in Public Places Project, which aims to connect 14 cities and 994 municipalities to the web. The project aims to raise connectivity in the Philippines to 99% in a few years.xxxi 20. The DOST likewise set out plans to limit the list of websites people can access, blacklisting sites, and designating site coordinators. This alarmed a number of advocates as it might be interpreted as a “form of censorship.” As of 2015, No systematic government censorship of online content has been documented in the Philippines, and internet users enjoy unrestricted access to both domestic and international sources of information. xxxii 21. Telecentre.org Foundation, in partnership with the DOST-ICTO, aims to provide women, especially those in disadvantaged communities, an avenue to become part of the ICT industry and make them aware that they can strive for a career in this field by way of digital literacy. Through this campaign, women in different ages are taught various levels of digital literacy, ranging from how to use the computer to more advanced ICT-related lessons, all of which are geared for the empowerment and improvement of their lives.