MANILA – The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) is looking to penalize social media and e-commerce platforms for inaction related to fake accounts and scams.
In a televised interview over ANC on Tuesday, CICC Executive Director Undersecretary Alexander Ramos said Republic Act No. 11967, known as the Internet Transactions Act of 2023, enables the CICC and other government agencies to seek action towards social media and e-commerce platforms.
“As far as the platforms are concerned, they're doing a lot of business and yet they lack the necessary safety nets for local consumers. With this new law, I think we have enough basis to file potential charges against them,” Ramos said.
These platforms, he said, can be penalized if they continue to allow accounts that “promote fake products or fake accounts that victimize people.”
“They should not be harboring them. They should weed them out. They should have certain technologies that automatically detect this. They are, after all, promoting the use of e-commerce on their platform,” he added.
While Philippine authorities can contact these platforms for their concerns in the past, Ramos said their action towards illegal activities were “not immediate” and lacking.
“In the last ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) security summit based in Singapore, there was a collective action towards this goal to really increase the enforcement on social media platforms. Now that we have [this law], we can demand immediate action,” he said.
However, Ramos said the law does not aim to shut down social media or e-commerce platforms and instead aims to promote consumer confidence through increased regulation.
“Shutting them down is the last thing we have in mind because the administration is really promoting e-commerce,” he said.
With the Philippines’ reputation as the “social media capital of the world,” Ramos said better online security for Filipinos is a must.
“Right now, the government is not taxing [these platforms], at least protecting clients is a must and important,” he said.
To date, Ramos said the number one concern in the country’s online space is fake online sellers.
“That's the number one problem as far as e-commerce is concerned. We have a lot of victims,” he said.
Aside from penalizing these platforms, Ramos said the government also implements information campaigns to help Filipinos learn how to avoid and combat online scams.
“Right now, we are campaigning to be more aware, be more curious before you do any online transaction. Get more info(rmation) and really study the options you have once you go online. Never be too trusting. That's one of our advocacies,” he said.
On Dec. 5, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. signed two priority bills into law -- the Internet Transactions Act of 2023 and the Public-Private Partnership Code of the Philippines.
Aside from arming government regulators with more teeth, the former also creates the e-commerce bureau under the Department of Trade and Industry that will formulate policies and register both local and international digital platforms and online merchants under local laws. (PNA)
