The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is sending a delegation to Singapore this week to demand stronger online safety measures for minors from gaming platform Roblox and tech giant Meta following recent school shootings in Tacloban and Zamboanga City.
DICT Secretary Henry Aguda will lead the delegation—comprising officials from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC), and lawmakers—to meet directly with the companies’ Asia-Pacific leadership due to the absence of local Philippine offices.
“Pupunta kami sa Singapore para kausapin mismo ang executives ng Meta at Roblox. Ito yung problema namin, wala silang opisina sa Manila,” Aguda said.
“Kaysa hintayin pa namin na sila lumipad dito dahil ang tagal na namin silang hinihintay na magpakita dito, kami na mismo ang lilipad doon,” he added.
The Philippine delegation plans to issue formal notices and demand clear commitments from both tech platforms regarding minor safety enhancements.
“Magtutuos kami this week para malaman na namin kung seryoso sila na tumupad doon sa pangako nila o hindi,” he said.
While Roblox previously introduced age-based account classifications with automatic restrictive settings, Aguda emphasized that these steps remain insufficient.
“May dalawa pa silang utang. One, magtayo sila ng opisina dito sa Pilipinas wala na tayong jurisdiction issue. Last, yung identity verification ng users nila. Ang napag-usapan namin dati, titingnan nila na i-integrate sa national ID yung identity nung mga tao. Fool-proof na yun,” he added.
Aguda also criticized Meta for failing to immediately block a livestream of the shooting incident at Ateneo de Zamboanga University.
“Hindi katanggap-tanggap yung nangyari na nag-livestreaming yung nangyari sa Ateneo. Na-take down nga nila pero 15 minutes later,” he said.
“Yung 15 minutes na yun, 1,500 copycats kaagad. Yun yung sinasabi kay Meta, hindi pwedeng hindi ka real time na magtanggal,” he added.