Graphic Designer and Comics Artist Julienne Davidas is seeking help from her followers on Facebook to report a page that has stolen, edited, and used her digital art for red-tagging.
The original content of the artwork in question reads “ACTIVISIM IS NOT TERRORISM! #JunkTerrorBill” and it was shared by Davidas through her Facebook page “Hulyen” on June 3. Terror Bill refers to the controversial House Bill No. 6875 or the Anti-Terror Act of 2020, which seeks to strengthen the Human Security Act of 2007. The bill was signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte on July 3.
Many have expressed dissent against the new law—private citizens and experts of the law alike—because it grants powers to the state to identify and detain suspected terrorists without court warrants, and because certain provisions of the law leave plenty of room for potential abuse especially if grossly interpreted by the people that have the power to enact it.
In another post shared through the same art page of Davidas, she told her followers: “hi guys. pa-report naman ng post na ito. walang paalam na ginamit at inedit pa yung art ko para mang-red tag.”
The edited version of her art was shared by the Facebook page “The Right Bulsuan” on July 7. It reads: “REALITY / ACTIVISM is a step to TERRORISM!”
The plagiarised artwork, which has 775 likes and 160 shares as of typing this, comes with a caption that red tags activists as communists, and a claim that says the owners of the page are resisting the resistance.
/JV