A stern 24-hour ultimatum has turned into a regulatory reprieve for Reddit and Discord after the global platforms opened talks with local authorities, buying them more time to establish a local presence as the government tightens its grip on online safety.

The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) said Wednesday it granted the extensions after both platforms responded to its directive and committed to stronger coordination with the government, particularly in protecting children from harmful online content.

For Reddit, the response came before the clock ran out.

CICC Executive Director Undersecretary Renato Paraiso said the platform engaged agency officials in an online meeting, while Discord separately sent a letter signaling its willingness to work with authorities.

“We decided to grant them an extension since they responded within 24 hours and we want to give them the opportunity to work with us because what we want is accountability and a clear mechanism for the government to coordinate with the platforms,” Paraiso said. 

However, the reprieve comes with conditions.

“While we welcome their commitment to work with us, we will not settle for anything less. This commitment must translate into concrete action, genuine accountability, faster response mechanisms and stronger protections for our Filipino children online,” he added.

Reddit officials discussed establishing “green lanes,” or direct channels that would allow Philippine authorities to flag potentially harmful content for expedited review and possible takedown.

These would cover online sexual abuse and exploitation of children, child abuse and exploitation materials, scams, misinformation, harmful content, and materials associated with Nihilistic Violent Extremism (NVE).

Reddit also committed to establishing an office in the Philippines and creating a team to coordinate with the CICC, although it has yet to provide a timeline.

The CICC, in turn, will provide Reddit with information on Philippine laws and regulations governing online safety and cybercrime.

Discord similarly moved to engage regulators amid scrutiny over the use of private online communities associated with NVE, offering to brief the CICC on safeguards designed for teenage users.

Discord Senior Public Policy Advisor Vasundhara Singh said its Global Teen Experience includes age-assurance measures designed to place teenage users in age-appropriate settings by default. 

Users whose age cannot be determined through account-level signals may confirm it through privacy-preserving methods, including on-device facial age estimation, with biometric data not shared with or stored by Discord.

The platform also offered to brief the CICC on its Family Center tools and Kodex system, which allows law enforcement agencies to submit lawful takedown and data requests for fast-tracked responses.