NEWS UPDATE | Discord ban lifted, civic groups to file case
Among the commitments was the establishment of a “green lane,” or a direct channel between Discord and Philippine authorities for urgent concerns and requests involving harmful content and online threats.
The Philippine government lifted its temporary blocking of Discord after the platform committed to stronger cooperation with authorities on online child safety, Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Henry Aguda and Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) Executive Director Renato “Aboy” Paraiso said Thursday.
In a livestreamed press conference on Sept. 24, Aguda said Discord had committed to taking immediate steps to strengthen protections for Filipino children and acknowledged that improvements were needed in its policies.
Aguda said the blocking was imposed for the purpose of protecting children and that the government had no other motive behind the action.
“Ang ban ay ipinatupad natin para lamang sa isang layunin — ang kaligtasan at proteksyon ng mga anak. Walang ibang motibo sa likod ng hakbang na ito.” (The ban was imposed for only one purpose — the safety and protection of children. There is no other motive behind this action.)
Paraiso said the government reached an agreement with Discord following a meeting with the platform’s officials earlier Thursday.
Among the commitments was the establishment of a “green lane,” or a direct channel between Discord and Philippine authorities for urgent concerns and requests involving harmful content and online threats.
Paraiso said Discord also committed to monitoring and recognizing threat actors on its platform and to designating personnel or establishing a local satellite office in the Philippines to facilitate coordination with authorities.
“Kagaya ng Reddit, nangako ang Discord na binibigyan nila tayo ng green lane, kagaya ng pagmo-monitor at pagre-recognize ng mga threat actor sa kanilang platform.” (Like Reddit, Discord committed to giving us a green lane, including monitoring and recognizing threat actors on its platform.)
Paraiso said the local presence would allow the government to communicate urgent concerns directly to Discord and seek faster action.
“Kung magtatayo sila ng local satellite office o magde-designate ng kanilang tauhan sa ating bansa, ano man po ang maging pasya nila, magiging mas madali na sa atin ang makipag-communicate at mag-establish ng coordination sa kanila.” (If they establish a local satellite office or designate personnel in our country, whatever their decision may be, it will be easier for us to communicate and establish coordination with them.)
He added that the government would continue monitoring the implementation of Discord’s commitments.
“Bagamat naging matagumpay ang mga naging pag-uusap, hindi pa rin tayo magpapakampante ngayon.” (Although the discussions were successful, we will not become complacent.)
Paraiso also apologized to users affected by the blocking.
“Ikukunin ko na rin po itong pagkakataon na ‘to para humingi ho ng pasensya sa lahat po ng mga naapektuhan at naabala ng sa ilang oras na ban ng Discord sa bansa.” (I would also like to take this opportunity to apologize to everyone who was affected and inconvenienced by the Discord ban in the country for several hours.)
He said the government was working with Discord to restore normal access.
The blocking had affected users on several Philippine telecommunications networks. Discord was reported inaccessible on Globe, GOMO, TNT and DITO, while access remained available on some other networks. Reports on PLDT and Smart were mixed, with some users reporting continued access and others experiencing difficulties.
The CICC had earlier threatened restrictions against Discord and Reddit after ordering both platforms to designate a local representative or establish a Philippine presence within 24 hours. The agency subsequently clarified that an extension was granted to Reddit but not Discord.
The government said the measures were prompted by concerns involving online child safety, including the exploitation and grooming of minors, exposure to violent content and other harmful online activity.
The lifting of the Discord block, however, did not end criticism of the government’s handling of the issue.
Jeffrey Ian Dy, a cybersecurity specialist and former DICT undersecretary who had criticized the blocking because of its potential effect on Filipino gig workers, said he and civic groups would still pursue legal action despite the lifting of the restriction.
“I’m with some civic groups. We will file a case kahit lifted na yung ban. This has to stop.”
Dy was referring to what he described as arbitrary banning or blocking of online platforms.
Dy had earlier pointed to Discord communities used by Filipino virtual assistants and other gig workers, arguing that platform-wide restrictions could disrupt legitimate work and livelihoods.
Democracy.Net.PH, a digital-rights advocacy group, also questioned the government’s legal basis for restricting access to online platforms in a statement issued after the DICT-CICC press briefing.
The group said child safety should not be used to justify violations of basic rights and argued that restrictions on freedom of speech and information must meet constitutional standards.
It questioned whether the government had sufficient data to establish that the targeted platforms were the cause of the problems authorities were seeking to address. It also called for a broader “whole-of-society” approach that considers parental supervision, gun control and government policies affecting parents’ ability to supervise their children.
Democracy.Net.PH also questioned the mandate of executive agencies to restrict access to platforms, arguing that decisions involving restrictions on fundamental freedoms should be addressed by the courts or Congress.
“We reiterate: the DICT, as an executive agency, has no right to threaten platforms and then to ban them, for refusing to negotiate with them,” the group said.
The group also warned against establishing a precedent in which restrictions imposed in the name of protecting one segment of the population could eventually be used to restrict others.
Other technology-sector figures, including TraXion Tech founder Ann Cuisia, technology entrepreneur Edison Go Tan, FHMoms founder MK Bertulfo, Unbox founder Carlo Ople and internet-rights advocate Pierre Tito Galla, also criticized the blocking on social media, citing its potential impact on legitimate users and questioning the proportionality and legal basis of platform-wide restrictions.
The government has maintained that its objective is to make global platforms more accountable and establish faster channels for addressing threats to Filipino children.
With Discord’s commitments now in place, the immediate blocking has been lifted. The next issue will be whether the platform’s promised safety measures and coordination mechanisms translate into sustained cooperation with Philippine authorities and whether the legal questions raised over the government’s authority to block platforms will be tested in court.
UPDATED at 4:02 p.m. adding Democracy.Net.PH’s official statement.
Full disclosure: All news articles published on the TechSabado website are written by human journalists, unless otherwise specified. Final text editing is also performed by human editors, with artificial intelligence (AI) used only to assist with additional grammar and style guide corrections..
————————————————————————-
TEN YEARS OF TECHSABADO!
PLEASE LIKE our FACEBOOK PAGE and SUBSCRIBE to OUR YOUTUBE & SPOTIFY channels.
WATCH TECHSABADO ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL:
WE ARE ALSO ON SPOTIFY
WATCH OUR OTHER YOUTUBE CHANNELS:
PLEASE LIKE our FACEBOOK PAGE and SUBSCRIBE to OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL.
WE ARE ALSO ON SPOTIFY
WATCH OUR OTHER YOUTUBE CHANNELS:
PLEASE LIKE our FACEBOOK PAGE and SUBSCRIBE to OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL.
