Philippines: Announced CICC investigation into social media platforms for inaction regarding fake accounts and scams

On 19 December 2023, the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) of the Philippines announced an investigation into social media platforms for inaction regarding fake accounts and scams. CICC highlighted its plans to penalise social media and e-commerce platforms for allowing accounts that promote fake products and scams, thereby endangering local consumers. CICC highlighted that the Internet Transactions Act of 2023 empowers CICC to seek action against these platforms, requiring them to implement technologies that automatically detect and remove such accounts. CICC also stated that potential charges may be filed against non-compliant platforms, and that information campaigns are underway to educate consumers on avoiding online scams.