CICC, DTI to pin down Meta over scammers

The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) is working with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to tap the newly enacted Republic Act 11967 or the Online Transactions Act of 2023 to nail down global social media giant Meta over the proliferation of cyber criminals and fraudsters who victimize Filipinos on Facebook.

-  RAINIER ALLAN RONDA

CICC executive director and ICT Undersecretary Alexander Ramos said at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum yesterday that they were banking on RA 11967 to compel Meta to take concrete action to permanently ban cyber fraudsters engaging in illegal commercial activities on its social media platform.

While the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the law have yet to be crafted, Ramos said the CICC is now collecting all complaints of scam victims or reports of illegal activities being conducted on Facebook, where available figures as of last November showed over 13,000 complaints.

The CICC chief admitted that their efforts to get Meta to take action were not being satisfactorily addressed by the tech giant.

“The way I understand it, in other countries, they are being penalized. With our new law, I think they can be penalized already. We want it implemented,” Ramos said.