The Philippine National Police (PNP) have served a warrant to social media platforms including Meta’s Facebook, Google and Youtube at the Department of Justice (DOJ) Cybercrime Office regarding social media accounts on ‘grooming children’.
Authorities asked the social media giants to release subscriber information, chats, images, and other content posted by the ‘Usapang Diskarte’ accounts, which allegedly provided tips on grooming women and children.
In its warrants, Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 24 said that there was probable cause that a violation of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 had been committed by the account, specifically in child pornography.
Police Lieutenant Chonalyn Sagun of PNP ACG Women and Children Cybercrime Protection Unit said that the purpose of the warrant is to urge the companies to reveal those who are behind the ‘Usapang Diskarte’ page or channel so that they can be prosecuted.
State Counsel Gerald Vincent Sosa of the DOJ Office of Cybercrime told reporters that their office acts as the central agency in serving cybercrime and cyber-related warrants on foreign entities.
Sosa said that Facebook and YouTube are “very compliant” with warrants. The companies are cooperative when disclosing information when it comes to cases involving child pornography, grooming and online sexual abuse and exploitation of children.
