New DICT order targets trolls, AI abuse

Troll farms no more? 

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is preparing a Department Order requiring user verification on digital tools and platforms amid a crackdown against troll farms and artificial intelligence (AI) abuses.

“We need verification, so we know who is using it. I will issue a department order requiring user verification so that if someone does something wrong, we can trace them,” DICT Secretary Henry R. Aguda said in an interview with reporters on Friday.

He said the policy is meant to stop harmful AI practices, including the manipulation and reposting of images. 

“For example, if AI strips someone’s clothes from a photo and reposts it, that should not allowed,” he said.

Aguda said the order is also designed to curb organized online trolling. “This should also reduce trolls—that’s one goal,” he said.

He added that social media platforms must act on AI bots and harmful content, but face financial incentives that slow action. 

“With verification, and second, with AI bots, social media platforms need to act. The platforms themselves want to do it, but they always say we should issue a circular. Remember, social media platforms make money from traffic, so on their own, they cannot do this,” Aguda said.

The planned order follows the government’s recent move to block Grok AI, which has been under scrutiny since early January after it acknowledged its system was being exploited to generate malicious content involving real people, including celebrities and politicians. 

In response, xAI, Grok’s developer, founded by Elon Musk, blocked requests for sexual content involving real and prominent individuals.

Citing national cybersecurity risks, several countries—including Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, the United Kingdom, France, the European Union, and the Philippines—have taken action against Grok AI.

Locally, the request to block the tool was approved in less than 24 hours.