Metro Manila, Philippines – The government has put messaging app Telegram “under observation” over reports of illegal activities on the platform, and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said a ban would be the last resort.
The government surveillance on Telegram coincided with secured commitments from Meta, the parent company of Facebook, and Google, which owns YouTube, to address online harm.
In a news release on Thursday, Feb. 26, DICT Secretary Henry Aguda said reports are rising on online gambling, scams, piracy, selling of illegal drugs, and online sexual exploitation of children on Telegram.
The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Council, however, faces roadblocks in locating suspects behind the reported crimes as Telegram has no physical office in the country.
Aguda said the issue of online abuse of children is “non-negotiable.”
“Kapag nagpatuloy ang ganitong uri ng mga aktibidad at walang pakikipagtulungan mula sa mga platform, hindi kami mag-aatubiling irekomenda ang pag-block sa kanila,” Aguda said.
“Ang instruction ng ating pangulo ay malinaw: puksain ang social harm na dala ng teknolohiya,” he said.
[Translation: If this kind of activity persists and there is no cooperation from the platform, we will not hesitate to recommend blocking it. The president’s instruction is clear: end social harm brought by technology.]
Banning Telegram is the last resort, the DICT said, as the government seeks strict cooperation and accountability from tech companies.
In February, Aguda said the DICT held separate meetings with Meta and Google, where “landmark agreements” were set to intensify actions against online sexual abuse and exploitation of children, financial scams, and deepfakes.
In October 2025, the Philippines had around 98 million internet users, ranking 12th in the world’s largest connected populations, according to a report by DataReportal.
