MANILA — The House of Representatives has approved on third and final reading a measure penalizing the willful spread of false information online, imposing prison terms and fines of up to P2 million for violators.

Lawmakers voted 286-3-0 during Wednesday’s plenary session to pass House Bill 9465, or the Digital Media Anti-False Information Act.

Under the bill, individuals who are found guilty of “knowingly and deliberately creating, financing, directing or materially assisting false information intended to cause verifiable public harm or pose a serious threat to national security” may face six to 12 years of imprisonment and fines ranging from P500,000 to P2 million.

The measure also covers AI-generated or manipulated images, videos, and audio content that are released without proper disclosure and are intended to mislead the public.

Speaker Faustino “Bojie” Dy III, one of the authors of the bill, said the proposal was crafted to balance regulation with constitutional protections.

“It does not punish criticism, dissent, political opposition, journalism or honest mistakes. What it targets are deliberate and coordinated efforts to deceive the public and inflict harm,” Dy said in a statement.

He added that the bill sets a high threshold for criminal liability and explicitly protects political expression, including criticism of government, journalism, satire, whistleblowing, academic discussion, artistic expression, and religious speech.

The measure also states that actions such as liking, sharing, forwarding, or reposting content are not punishable unless it can be proven beyond reasonable doubt that a person knowingly and materially participated in prohibited disinformation activities.