The agency previously directed both platforms to establish one within the span of 24 hours.
On Wednesday, September 23, the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) disclosed that representatives from social networking platforms Reddit and Discord have reached out to them.
The communication between both parties took place following the announcement of the agency that it has issued directives to both services to set up local officrs in the Philippines amid the government’s move to address the recent string of campus violence in the country, including the most recent shooting incident in South Cotabato, which they are linking to online platforms.
In a statement, CICC Executive Director Undersecretary Renato “Aboy” Paraiso said the agency has decided to extend the deadline.
According to them, Reddit responded through an online meeting, where they disclosed measures to strengthen cooperation.
Meanwhile, Discord separately reached out to the agency in a letter, where it signaled its willingness to discuss its existing safety measures for teenagers.
“We decided to grant them an extension since they responded within the 24 hours and we want to give them the opportunity to work with us because what we want is accountability and a clear mechanism for government to coordinate with the platforms,” Paraiso said. “While we welcome their commitment to work with us, we will not settle for anything less. This commitment must translate into concrete action, genuine accountability, faster response mechanisms and stronger protections for our Filipino children online.”
REDDITTO ESTABLISH GREEN LANES FOR PH GOV’T
During their meeting, Reddit Vice President of Policy Jessica Ashooh and Deputy General Counsel Leslie Liu and Policy and Regulatory Affairs Manager Vijay Pamarathi discussed establishing “green lanes” or direct channels with Philippine authorities.
Through which, the government can flag potentially harmful content for expedited review and possible takedown of content involving online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (OSAEC), child abuse and exploitation materials (CSAEM), scams, misinformation, harmful content and materials associated with Nihilistic Violent Extremism (NVE).
Moreover, Reddit committed to setting up an office in the Philippines and creating a team would coordinate with the CICC, while the specific timeline was not detailrd.
Thus, the CICC said that will provide Reddit with relevant information and literature, including Philippine laws and regulations, to help the platform better understand the local framework governing online safety and cybercrime.
DISCORD’S NEW SYSTEM
As regards to Discord, they have expressed the concern over the recent incidents and noted that it is willing to work directly with the CICC in protecting minors from exploitation, grooming, and exposure to violent content.
The platform was also said to be briefing the CICC on its newly rolled out Global Teen Experience, which includes age-assurance measures designed to place teenage users in an age-appropriate experience by default.
According to the CICC, Discord Senior Public Policy Advisor Vasundhara Singh said that under the new system, users who cannot be confidently placed into an age group through account-levels signals may confirm their age through privacy-preserving methods, including on-device facial age estimation, with biometric data not shared with or stored by Discord.
Adidr from that, the platform also offered to brief the CICC on its Family Center tools and its Kodex system, which allows law enforcement agencies to submit lawful takedown and data requests and receive fast-tracked responses.
DISCORD BAN BY ISPs?
Despite this development, several users using Globe Telecom and DITO Telecommunity reported on Wednesday evening that they are already unable to access the Discord website, as well as the application.
At present, neither of both telecommunication companies have publicly announced any move to block the services of the platform. Discord, for its part, has also yet to address the situation.
CICC’S CLARIFICATION
The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) would like to clarify that the extension granted in connection with its 24-hour directive was granted only to Reddit and does not cover Discord.
Reddit was granted an extension after its officials met with CICC online within the prescribed 24-hour period and engaged with the agency on specific commitments that the Philippines urgently needs to strengthen online child safety.
Meanwhile, Discord separately reached out to the CICC in a letter to express its willingness to engage with the agency on its existing teen safety measures. However, no extension has been granted to Discord at this time, pending direct discussions with the platform and concrete commitments on the CICC’s requirements.
This is particularly important as Philippine authorities continue to examine Discord over the presence of extremist communities on the platform, including groups associated with Nihilistic Violent Extremism (NVE) that have been linked to the radicalization and recruitment of minors involved in the recent school shooting incidents in the country.
We regret any confusion or misunderstanding that this may have caused.
