Doctor and vlogger Adam Smith discussed recently a case involving Ivana Alawi and his good friend, Atty. Libayan, known in the online world as BATASnatin.
"So, mayroong tatlong characters sa kwento na ito -- Ivana, maganda siya, mahilig siya gumawa ng pranks; BATASnatin, abogado siya, mahilig siya mag turo sa iba... And then we have Facebook," he said on his vlog.
According to him, the issue started when Ivana uploaded her controversial prank where she disguised herself as a beggar hoping to catch the attention of a few good souls.
Though many commended her for highlighting problems relating to mendicancy, there were also some people who accused the sexy vlogger of engaging in poverty porn.
Then later news about her violating the anti-mendicancy law surfaced.
"So, gusto ko muna sabihin na parang ayaw ko ng ganitong klase ng videos...," he said about Ivana's video, relating he just finds it "very distasteful" when someone pretends to be poor and homeless when they're actually "very rich with a very nice life."
"Parang hindi mo kaya maranasan ang kahirapan ng tao sa isang araw lang? It just doesn't work like that," he added, pointing out that he has no personal grudge against Ivana.
He reiterated though that he deems it's "very disrespectful" to pretend you're something you're not.
"Kung gusto mo talaga tumulong sa kapwa mo marami kang pwedeng gawin na mas maganda kaysa dito. Give to the charity, set up a foundation. Wag kang mag endorse ng isang mask na may butas sa isang pandemic," he quipped.
"Pretending to be poor, and then uploading that video to YouTube kasi gusto mo maranasan ang kahirapan nila -- I just don't think that really helps. Tsaka tandaan ninyo ito parang pinagkakakitaan niya ang mga kahirapan nila. She got 20 million view in this video. Ang daming datong diyan!"
He then discussed how Ivana's camp put down five Facebook videos of BATASnatin for allegedly violating copyright law.
Doc Adam personally believes it is wrong believing it falls under "fair use."
"Any copying of copyrighted material done for a limited and transformative purpose, such as to comment upon, criticize, or parody a copyrighted work...can be done without permission from the copyright owner."
"Now sa opinion ko yang ginagawa ni BATASnatin sa videos niya he's using fair use para magbigay ng opinion niya at para magturo sa iba," he said. "Katulad ng ginagawa ko sa videos ko."
Doc Adam also cried foul for removing BATASnatin's ability to post anything on his Facebook page.
"Hindi maganda yan kaibigan," he said. "Well una sa lahat, nawala ang Facebook page niya. What he is doing on his Facebook page -- nagtuturo siya sa iba tungkol sa batas. So it looks to me na parang ipinatanggal ni Ivana ang kakayahan ni BATASnatin magturo sa iba by restricting his page. He now can't teach or educate people. Hindi maganda yan."
"Pangalawa, what is happening here is free speech is being stifled. Nawala ang kakayahan niya magbigay ng opinion niya tungkol sa iba. That my friend is free speech. And alam natin lahat kung bakit importante ang free speech. Pag walang free speech sa isang bansa, ang tawag diyan ay dictatorship. We don't want a dictatorship in the Philippines. Kailangan ninyo ng free speech para umasenso."
Doc Adam reminded his subscribers that his video is not some "personal attack" on Ivana but he does hope the latter could realize that this "whole copyright claim" thing is just "very, very silly in my opinion."
"Ang opinion ko lang parang gustong patahimikin ni Ivana si BATASnatin. Hindi maganda yan Ivana! You have 12 million or more subscribers. Talagang sikat ka. Syempre may mga tao na gusto magbigay ng opinion nila tungkol sayo. Kailangan mo yan tanggapin. If you don't like it there's not much you can do. Pwera na lang kung defamation yan. You just need to accept these things and move on! And maybe don't break any laws in your vlogs. That might help. But don't silence a lawyer when he's just giving you opinion na lumabag ka sa batas."
Prior, Doc Adam once called out Raffy Tulfo for his stand on Ivermectin.
https://mb.com.ph/2021/04/10/real-doctor-adam-smith-calls-out-raffy-tulfo-for-stand-on-ivermectin/