A politician in The Philippines has put forward a bill that would make ghosting illegal. Is representative Arnolfo Teves, Jr a man of the people or just another guy who got shut down for coming on too strong? Let’s investigate.
At first glance, the bill seems completely ridiculous and unenforcible. Like, genuinely, how would you police this?
However, at a closer glance we find that it’s actually quite well-worded and appears to be genuine and in good faith, if not a bit of an overreach.
Have you been “ghosted” by someone?
Negros Oriental 3rd District Rep. Arnolfo Teves, Jr. filed a bill declaring “ghosting” as an “emotional offense.” He says “ghosting” is when someone cuts off communication with friends, partners, and alike without real closure. pic.twitter.com/Vv56IQJbMg
— ONE News PH (@onenewsph) July 26, 2022
“In the age of social media and in today’s world, the realm of dating has changed exponentially compared to previous years,” the bill reads as per ONE News PH.
“Now, couples primarily communicate using their cellular phones and in turn, use cellular phones as an avenue for meeting and dating.”
Side note — this is the first time I’ve heard the term “cellular phone” in a literal decade. Vintage vibes.
The bill goes on to define ghosting. It’s giving Oxford Dictionary X Urban Dictionary.
one-sided ghosting is bad, but two-sided ghosting is one of the most beautiful things we have. just two people silently deciding that they will definitely never contact each other again. it doesn’t get better than that
— trash jones (@jzux) July 29, 2022
‘When someone cuts off all forms of communication can be mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausting to the “ghosted” person.
“Studies have shown that social rejection of any kind activates the same pain pathways in the brain as physical pain, meaning there’s a biological link between rejection and pain.
“Ghosting has adverse effects on the mental state of the one being ghosted and his or her emotional state is still adversely affected as he or she will be constantly thinking of the welfare or the unexplained reasons of the one who ghosted.”
Damn, my guy went DEEP on this one. Whipping out the sciency-sounding lingo and everything.
At the end of the day, I think the main issue here is not the seemingly good faith argument behind trying to ban ghosting. We’ve done our own report on the harm ghosting can do which you can read here.
Rather, the main issue is about how the actual fuck you you enforce it.
Also, what if there’s a legitimate reason for ghosting someone such as if they’re abusive?
Many questions, not a lot of answers.
https://twitter.com/httpxryzen/status/1553301926837489665?s=20&t=h6LGMeBhGjraiX0JJ_HGOw
Tune in next week when the same dude inevitably tries to criminalise gaslighting. The Brunswick Soft Bois will be quacking in their Doc Marten boots.
If a bill like this was introduced into Australian parliament, I have a feeling Bob Katter’s reaction might be similar to this.
