DICT, CICC tell Discord ban naysayers: Lives are more important

MANILA, Philippines — Government information and technology officials have appealed to critics to understand that protecting people’s lives takes precedence over the continuous availability of social networking sites.

The plea comes as the ban on the messaging apps Reddit and Discord is lifted.

Information and Communications Technology Secretary Henry Aguda and Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) chief Undersecretary Renato Paraiso explained that they had to order the ban.

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The two officials cited the need to ensure that the business persons behind the online applications would comply with directives to protect the Filipino children.

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Aguda and Paraiso gave their statements in a press briefing at the Batasang Pambansa on Thursday.

The ban on Reddit and Discord was placed amid fears that the encrypted nature of the platforms was being exploited by people influencing students towards Nihilistic violent extremism (NVE).

This extremism is believed to be a reason behind the recent school shootings in the Philippines.

According to Paraiso, he would rather talk with people affected by the ban, rather than with the parents whose children have died in the school shootings.

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“We understand there’s a certain segment of society using this and relying on it,” he said. “But the truth is, for me, it will be easier to have a conversation with the people displaced, affected.” 

“This is an easier conversation on how the government can help them to transfer their business […] rather than talk with the parents who lost their child,” Paraiso made the distinction.

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“That’s a hard conversation, and I’d rather have that conversation with the people affected because we can find solutions for that,” the CICC official said.

“But for children who died, their bereaved relatives, those injured, the parents – as I told the secretary – I do not know how to face them,” Paraiso communicated.

For his part, Aguda said they understand the grievances of the legitimate app users.

However, he also reminded the public that both Reddit and Discord admitted that there are issues that may lead to dangerous circumstances for minors who use their apps.

“We empathize with the public, the legitimate users who were affected. We understand their grievances,” he acknowledged.

“However, we want to inform you that we have talked to Reddit and Discord, and they recognized the issue,” he said.

“They did not say that ‘Hey, we do not have an issue.’ They recognized it,” Aguda narrated.

“So the discussion is: Let us help each other so the issue will go away, so that legitimate users of Discord and Reddit can continue using them,” he added.

According to the secretary, their concerns about NVE being propagated through private messages and communities is not confined to the Philippines, as other countries also experience the same thing.

“It’s not an issue only in the Philippines. That’s worldwide. It happens around the world,” he noticed.

“The Philippine government stands today to say the ‘enough is enough,’ before this problem goes out of control. Because if you will research, you will see that the instances of NVE is on the rise,” he observed.

“You know that, we all know that, we are the agency tasked to find solutions, and sometimes, the solutions are not popular,” Aguda explained.

“But we have to do the correct response so that we will have progress regarding our goal of protecting the youth,” he concluded.

On Tuesday, CICC announced that it gave Reddit and Discord a letter last Monday to inform them of a deadline in setting up a presence in the country.

This action was in response to fears that social media plays a huge role in influencing the students to go to their schools and shoot people.

Reddit, a social media company publicly traded in the New York Stock Exchange, serves as an online forum for various communities, built by netizens around their favorite topics.

Discord, run by an American software company of the same name, defines itself as a “group chat that’s all fun and games.”

READ: Anticybercrime body sets deadline for Reddit, Discord

CICC on Wednesday allowed Reddit to establish a presence in the country beyond the initial 24-hour deadline set. 

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Then on Thursday, the center said it had lifted the ban on Discord after its representatives talked with CICC officials. /apl