The Philippine Supreme Court has suspended a massive new law that targets cybercrime, cybersquatting, spam, online libel, and even cybersex.

The Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, which we reported on last month, drew the ire of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, who expressed concern that this law could lead to a reduction of free speech online. Many fear the new law, with its enhanced penalties, echoes the dictatorial regime of President Ferdinand Marcos, who ruled the archipelago from 1965 to 1986.

The new law, which went into effect last month, has been suspended for 120 days, preventing the government from enforcing it. Oral arguments in the case will be heard by the court early next year. The court ordered the government to respond to its order within ten days.

If the law is upheld, it will expand powers of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Philippine National Police (PNP). The law states that they are tasked with enforcement online, and that they "shall organize a cybercrime unit or center manned by special investigators to exclusively handle cases involving violations of this Act." Such cases will be prosecuted in "special cybercrime courts manned by specially trained judges to handle cybercrime cases."

Another petitioner, Renato Reyes, the secretary-general of the left-wing New Patriotic Alliance, told the Associated Press that the court's order was "a major victory for freedom and civil liberties."