Four of the most popular and influential social media platforms have rallied behind the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and its bid to ramp up awareness of the perils presented by cyber criminals in the digital space.
The biggest social media platforms – Google, YouTube, TikTok, and Meta – agreed with the DICT in intensifying their cybersecurity efforts as online scams and other cybercrimes triple over a six-month period this year.
This developed as the DICT nears the home stretch of Cybersecurity Month 2023 that DICT Secretary Ivan John E. Uy fosters in association with Digital Pilipinas,
now the largest private sector led movement for creating an innovation and technology ecosystem in the country actively engaged in a global digital economy through its domestic and international trajectories.
The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) under the Office of the President earlier reported the number of online scams – such as those that happen across social media – tripled in only six months this year to 4,446 cases.
In a move affirming its commitment to lead the country to digital transformation through cybersecurity, the DICT hosted the Social Media Commitment Event to which social media companies, government agency officials, and private sector representatives vowed to support the DICT push on intensified cybersecurity.
Social media comprises one of the key pillars of digital transformation, especially given that more than 70 percent of Filipinos are active on various social media platforms, directly contributing to the potential pool of victims of online scams.
“Cybersecurity has become a deep concern for everyone, and the reason for this is the rapid move from brick-and-mortar to digital landscapes. The scale, speed, and level of penetration of digitalization in our everyday lives is unprecedented,” said Secretary Uy. He added that the economic presence of ASEAN through e-commerce presents a very attractive pie for cybercriminals and cyber threat actors.
“It becomes vital for us to all be concerned and to address that concern by coming together, working together, collaborating, and sharing what resources we have from different sectors in order to help protect our consumers and citizens in this area,” Uy said.
The signing ceremonies featured officials of the top social media giants including ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, and Google, representing both Google and YouTube. The signing also involved representatives from the private sector, government sector officials, and key representatives from foreign embassies.
The gathering also featured an insightful fireside chat between DICT undersecretary Jeff Dy and Digital Pilipinas Convenor Amor Maclang.
“When it comes to cybersecurity, our work in the financial sector has taught us that fintech, specifically, has the most vulnerabilities come into play. However, the financial services sector also has the most organized guidelines for cybersecurity,” said Maclang.
