The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) acknowledged Thursday that it was not aware of the extent to which Filipinos were using Discord for business, education and other purposes beyond gaming, saying the platform had not made these uses clear to the agency.
CICC Director Wayawaya “Aya” Macalma made the admission during the CICC Hotline 1326 program on Radyo Pilipinas, as she addressed the backlash over the temporary blocking of Discord in the Philippines.
“Yung mga bagong sinasabi ng ibang mga naapektuhan ng Discord, ginagamit pala nila sa business, ginagamit pala nila sa pag-aaral, hindi pa naka-klaro sa amin yan ng Discord,” Macalma said.
She acknowledged that the restriction affected users who rely on the platform for purposes beyond the concerns that prompted the CICC’s action.
“We do apologize sa mga affected. Inalala namin din yung mga nawala sa kanila, but our priority right now is the safety of each individual,” Macalma added.
Macalma said the restriction was temporary and that the agency was waiting for Discord to provide concrete commitments addressing its concerns.
Later in the day, CICC Executive Director Undersecretary Renato “Aboy” Paraiso and Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Henry Aguda announced that they had met with Discord representatives again and secured the platform’s commitment to cooperate with Philippine authorities.
Paraiso said Discord agreed to work with the DICT and CICC through “green lanes” that would allow authorities to coordinate directly with the platform on online threats.
“Para po sa atin, kagaya po ng Reddit, nangako ang Discord na pinindigin nila by the green lanes kagaya ng pagmamonitor at pagre-recognize ng mga threat actor sa kanilang platform,” Paraiso said.
The arrangement will include monitoring and taking down threat actors on Discord’s platform, as well as maintaining direct communication with Philippine authorities on urgent concerns.
The CICC is now working to restore Discord access in the Philippines.
Asked why the restriction was lifted so quickly, Paraiso said the CICC’s focus was strengthening online child safety, rather than punishing platforms.
“Kami naman po, ma’am, madali kaming kausap basta online child safety, basta magkasundo tayo na paiigtingin ang online child safety at nag-agree ho sila,” Paraiso said.
He said some of the measures agreed upon with Discord and Reddit were already being implemented.
“At hindi lang po basta commitment. Talagang ‘yung iba sa mga pinagkasunduan natin, ini-implementa natin ngayon,” he said.
“Wala hong rason para ho i-exclude yung mga platforms nito. Hindi ho kami para manikil or para pag-diinan yung mga platforms na ‘to,” Paraiso added.
The CICC had earlier pushed Discord and Reddit to establish stronger mechanisms for cooperation with Philippine authorities, including a local presence or designated representatives in the country.
Paraiso said having local representatives would make it easier for authorities to communicate with the platforms and raise urgent concerns.
“Sa mga platforms na ito, wala na kong makakapagtago na nanamantala at nananakit sa ating mga kabataan,” he said.
He added that the government would continue monitoring how the platforms implement their commitments.
