DICT weighs court battle with Meta

The Department of Information and Communications Technology is considering legal action against Meta over what it described as the company’s insufficient response to government requests for stronger online safety measures.

“If they don’t want to talk, then maybe we could just talk in court so the court can say whether they should be accountable to the people that use Facebook,” DICT Secretary Henry Aguda said Thursday.

Aguda said the government had sent two letters seeking to engage Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg but had yet to receive the level of response it wanted.

He acknowledged that directly seeking Zuckerberg’s intervention could appear “desperate,” but said the government had exhausted other channels.

“Many might question me for attempting to talk with Mark Zuckerberg, one of the richest people in the world, but sadly when you look at all the cases against Meta in the US, he’s the one that attends because if the order does not come from him, nothing happens,” Aguda said.

The DICT has also coordinated with U.S. authorities and Meta’s Asia-Pacific leadership over online safety concerns.

Aguda said the agency had forwarded a memorandum of understanding to Meta that remained unsigned.

He stressed, however, that the government would not immediately file a case and would first give platforms an opportunity to respond.

“I can’t really say yet what may eventually happen,” Aguda said.

He added that any action against Facebook would have to consider its broad economic and social impact.

“That’s what will happen with Facebook, there would be a large economic and social impact with a Facebook ban so it’s really difficult to say,” he said.

The National Privacy Commission on 22 September issued show cause orders to Meta, Roblox, Reddit and Discord over compliance with registration requirements under the Data Privacy Act and related regulations.

The NPC has also reminded digital platforms of their obligations to protect children’s personal data and warned that violations may lead to compliance orders, administrative sanctions or criminal prosecution.

Aguda said the government remained willing to engage with platforms that cooperate with Philippine authorities.

“I do not lose hope that Mr. Mark Zuckerberg would understand what the country is going through,” he said.

The DICT chief also backed proposals in Congress that would require online platforms to secure franchises before operating in the country.