Ex-DICT exec hits blocking of Discord, says it's unconstitutional

Make this your preferred source to get more updates from this publisher on Google.

A former official of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) hit the blocking of Discord, an online communication platform, saying that such a move is unconstitutional.

Former DICT undersecretary Jeffrey Ian Dy on Wednesday night noted that the blocking of any online platforms must be done with a court order.

“And this blocking (coordinated by DICT thru its agencies NTC and CICC) was done despite the Supreme Court ruling on Disini vs Secretary of Justice in GR no. 203335 explicitly stating that unilaterally taking down computer resources (including blocking) without a court order is unconstitutional,” said Dy in a Facebook post.

In separate letters dated Sept. 21, the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC), an agency attached to the DICT, gave Reddit and Discord 24 hours to establish offices or designate local representatives in the Philippines, as the government moves to strengthen coordination with digital platforms following three school shooting incidents in recent months.

Reddit was given more time to put up an office in the Philippines after its officials met with CICC online within the prescribed 24-hour period.

Discord, on the other hand, has been banned from the Philippines since Wednesday night, according to DICT Secretary Henry Aguda.

He said the DICT's Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) and Discord management are meeting to discuss compliance matters.

Discord is popular among online gamers, especially with the rise of e-sports in the Philippines. Hence, the report of banning Discord led to a backlash from many users.

However, the former DICT official noted that Discord is not just benefiting online gamers but those in the virtual assistance industry as well.

“Have you heard of Discord’s Barangay VA Helpdesk group? It has 12,000+ members. It is a group dedicated to Filipinos working as freelance online Virtual Assistants. How about the Nexus server? Same thing. Jobcord? Same,” said Dy.

“Congratulations, DICT, because of our failure to apprehend criminals online, we sacrificed some 15,000 legitimate Filipino workers on Discord,” he added.

GMA News Online also sought a comment from CICC regarding Dy’s statement and will publish it once available. —AOL, GMA News