By Raymond Carl Dela Cruz
MANILA – Two government agencies have taken separate actions against Meta, Roblox, Reddit, and Discord over child safety, with the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) demanding local representation from two platforms and the National Privacy Commission (NPC) issuing show cause orders against all four.
In a statement on Tuesday, CICC Executive Director Undersecretary Aboy Paraiso said he has given Reddit and Discord 24 hours to set up their respective offices in the Philippines, following the third school shooting incident in the country in a span of a few months.
“We are not asking platforms to police the internet for the government but to be reachable, accountable, and responsive when activities on their platforms put Filipino children and communities at risk. When an online threat spills over into the real world, there has to be a clear channel for authorities to act,” Paraiso said.
He issued separate letters dated Monday, Sept. 21, 2026, demanding that the two platforms immediately designate a resident agent or local representative upon receipt of the letters to facilitate Philippine jurisdiction and enhance coordination and cooperation with Philippine authorities.
Beyond designating local representatives, he directed Reddit and Discord to submit written explanations of their existing arrangements and concrete implementation plans to enhance safety standards, rapid response mechanisms, and age verification or age assurance measures.
He also sought the platforms’ participation in a cooperative framework to address the digital exploitation of minors, which he said has shifted from isolated online interactions to activities that fuel real-world violence and physical harm.
The proposed framework would cover networks involved in the creation, solicitation, possession, distribution, exchange, promotion, or monetization of online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (OSAEC), child sexual abuse or exploitation materials (CSAEM), and nihilistic violent extremism (NVE) occurring on the platforms.
He also formally tapped the Department of Foreign Affairs to initiate a coordination meeting and facilitate the participation of Meta, Discord, Reddit, and other social media platforms in discussions with the government on measures to address online threats linked to violence and the exploitation of children.
“Failure or refusal to comply with the prescribed period could prompt the CICC, in coordination with appropriate Philippine authorities, to restrict their operations or prohibit access of users to the platforms in the Philippines,” he warned.
Reddit is a social discussion platform organized into topic-based communities, while Discord is a messaging and community platform that allows users to communicate through private messages and invitation-based servers, which Paraiso said can provide fertile grounds for grooming, recruitment, and radicalization of minors.
Explain non-compliance
Meanwhile, the NPC issued show cause orders to Meta, Roblox, Reddit, and Discord on Tuesday over their non-compliance with applicable registration requirements under the Data Privacy Act of 2012 and NPC Circular 16-03.
“The safety, privacy, and overall well-being of our youth must always come first,” the NPC said, adding that the orders form part of its continuing mandate to administer and enforce the Data Privacy Act, its Implementing Rules and Regulations, and relevant issuances.
The commission said it is intensifying its compliance monitoring and investigation of digital platforms whose services involve the processing of personal data of individuals in the Philippines.
The actions come amid growing concerns over the use of online platforms in the dissemination of violent extremist content and the exploitation of minors, particularly in the wake of the shooting incident at Banga National High School in South Cotabato on Sept. 18.
Recent investigations have raised alarm over online grooming and recruitment of minors, including links to communities associated with NVE. These concerns have been magnified by three school shootings — in Tacloban City in June, at Ateneo de Zamboanga University on Aug. 18, and at Banga National High School in South Cotabato on Sept. 18.
Earlier this month, the government met with Meta and Roblox representatives to form a technical working group to implement stricter child safety measures, faster takedowns of content, and secure age verification mechanisms. (PNA)
