Reddit and Discord have reached out to the Philippine government to discuss stronger online safety measures for children after the two platforms were given 24 hours to establish local representation in the country.
The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) granted both platforms extensions after Reddit responded within the deadline and Discord separately sent a letter expressing its willingness to work with authorities.
CICC Executive Director Undersecretary Renato “Aboy” Paraiso said Reddit officials met with the agency online on Wednesday to discuss ways to improve coordination.
Reddit Vice President of Policy Jessica Ashooh, Deputy General Counsel Leslie Liu, and Policy and Regulatory Affairs Manager Vijay Pamarathi discussed plans to establish a Philippine office and a team to coordinate with the CICC.
The platform also proposed creating “green lanes,” or direct channels through which Philippine authorities could flag potentially harmful content for expedited review and possible removal.
These would cover online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (OSAEC), child sexual abuse and exploitation materials (CSAEM), scams, misinformation, harmful content, and materials associated with Nihilistic Violent Extremism (NVE).
Reddit did not provide a timeline for establishing its Philippine office or coordination team.
The CICC, meanwhile, will provide Reddit with Philippine laws, regulations, and other relevant materials to help the platform understand the country’s framework for online safety and cybercrime.
Discord also reached out to Paraiso in a letter, expressing concern over recent incidents in the Philippines and a willingness to work directly with the CICC to protect minors from exploitation, grooming, and exposure to violent content.
The platform offered to brief the CICC on its Global Teen Experience, which includes age-assurance measures designed to give teenage users age-appropriate experiences by default.
Discord said users who cannot be confidently placed in an age group based on account-level signals may confirm their age through privacy-preserving methods, including on-device facial age estimation. The company said it neither receives nor stores biometric data.
Discord also offered to discuss its Family Center tools and Kodex, which allows law enforcement agencies to submit lawful takedown and data requests and receive fast-tracked responses.
The platforms’ outreach came after the CICC ordered Reddit and Discord to designate resident agents or local representatives within 24 hours.
The directive followed concerns from law enforcement and cybersecurity agencies over the use of private, invitation-only digital communities to groom, radicalize, and recruit minors into real-world violence.
Paraiso said the extensions were granted because both platforms responded within the deadline and showed a willingness to work with Philippine authorities.
He said the CICC was seeking accountability and a clear mechanism for government coordination with the platforms.
