On Thursday, September 24, the Philippine Cybercrime Investigation and Co-ordinating Centre (CICC) lifted the temporary ban on Discord after the messaging platform agreed to co-operate with the authorities in strengthening child safety measures.
In a livestreamed press conference, CICC Executive Director Renato “Aboy” Paraiso said that Discord has committed to work with authorities in combating online threats.
Discord also agreed to provide a “green lane” that would allow Philippine authorities to monitor suspicious activities and identify threat actors on the platform.
Temporary ban
The agreement came hours after some Philippine telecommunications providers restricted access to Discord following the CICC’s directive.
The ban, which began at 5pm on Thursday, was imposed after the platform initially failed to give concrete commitments on the government’s requirements for accountability and co-operation.
These include establishing a local office or designating a Philippine representative to create a direct channel for government co-ordination, and strengthening measures for urgent cases involving minors.
Discord and Reddit were earlier instructed to establish a local presence within 24 hours.
Reddit responded immediately and has since agreed to set up a local office.
Both companies have also designated local point persons to co-ordinate with the government, while discussions on Discord’s Philippine presence remain ongoing.
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Agreement reached
After an online meeting with the authorities, Discord committed to strengthen child security measures, improve co-ordination with law enforcement and support efforts against online groomers.
“The meeting was successful,” CICC said in a live press conference, as quoted by The Philippine Daily Inquirer.
“We secured a commitment from Discord to collaborate with us in achieving our goal of further strengthening the online safety measures we are implementing for our country.”
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Officials defend decision
The temporary ban affected Filipino freelancers, gaming communities, remote workers, and students who rely on the platform to communicate.
Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Henry Aguda acknowledged legitimate users’ frustrations.
“We just want to let you know that when we spoke with Reddit and Discord, they acknowledged the issue,” he said in a report by The Philippine Daily Inquirer.
But Aguda justified the restriction by citing concerns that the encrypted platforms were being exploited to influence students towards Nihilistic Violent Extremism (NVE), which authorities believe was behind the recent school shootings in the country.
“The Philippine government stands today to say ‘enough is enough,’ before this problem goes out of control. Because if you will research, you will see that the instances of NVE is on the rise,” he said in a press briefing.
He said authorities had a duty to find solutions to the growing problem, adding that some measures might be unpopular.
“But we have to do the correct response so that we will have progress regarding our goal of protecting the youth,” Aguda added.
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