It all started when my four-year-old Reddit Premium account, with over 70,000 karma, was erroneously banned by the platform. I appealed the ban, but my efforts fell on deaf ears at Reddit.
Because it was a Premium account, I am entitled under consumer law to redress in the form of a refund, since it is a paid subscription. This is where Reddit’s Terms of Service (TOS) conflict with Philippine consumer law.
Reddit’s TOS explicitly provides no refunds for banned accounts, while Philippine consumer rights guarantee refunds for paid services that are no longer being enjoyed. I filed a complaint with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Consumer Services Division, but it was outright dismissed due to lack of jurisdiction, as Reddit has no office or legal representative in the Philippines.
In my research, I later discovered that a newly enacted law—the Internet Transactions Act of 2023—guarantees minimal contact with overseas companies doing business in the Philippines, such as Reddit and most social media platforms. These platforms offer subscriptions and accept advertising from Philippine companies.
I then filed another complaint with the DTI, this time through its newly created Internet Transactions Bureau. Two online hearings were scheduled via Microsoft Teams, but Reddit failed to appear on both occasions. I was later advised that the DTI would issue a Certificate to File Action against Reddit in a local court.
However, as with my earlier experience at the DTI Consumer Services Division, I believe this case would likely be dismissed by our courts for lack of jurisdiction. Reddit has no office or legal representative in the country.
This is where the gap in the Internet Transactions Act becomes apparent. Although the law requires minimal contact with foreign companies conducting business in the Philippines, if these companies refuse to respond to mediation hearings or even to complaints sent via email, there is effectively no way to compel them to face proceedings in local courts.
In further research, I also learned that Reddit has a separate grievance mechanism for Indian users. This resulted from the Indian government requiring social media companies operating in India—such as Meta, Instagram, and Reddit—to maintain a local office, legal representative, or grievance officer based in India. India’s IT law is similar to our Internet Transactions Act but goes further by mandating local representation for large social media platforms.
We often pride ourselves on being among the countries with the highest number of social media users in the world. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and even Reddit are widely used in the Philippines. In fact, Reddit usage in the Philippines ranks 10th globally.
I believe this number will only continue to grow as Reddit’s popularity increases. The r/Philippines subreddit alone now has 3.5 million users. There is a high likelihood that many Filipino users have also experienced erroneous bans but simply chose to create new accounts due to the lack of a proper grievance mechanism for Filipino Redditors.
I have also learned that many Facebook and Instagram users in the Philippines have fallen victim to waves of unjust bans worldwide. These issues could have been resolved more quickly if we had a grievance mechanism similar to India’s.
Because of this, I wrote several emails to our current senators, urging them to address the lack of a proper grievance mechanism for social media users in the Philippines. The Office of Senator Jinggoy Estrada responded and referred me to the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT). However, the DICT reiterated what I already knew—that it currently has no authority to address unfair bans or the lack of an effective redress process.
The Office of Senator Bam Aquino also replied to my proposal, stating that they would study it further. I sincerely hope they consider the amendment I am suggesting so that Filipino social media users may enjoy the same protections currently afforded to users in India.
Contrary to what some Reddit users claim, this proposed amendment would not undermine freedom of expression on social media. On the contrary, it would strengthen the enforcement of existing Philippine laws, such as the Cybercrime Prevention Act.
I firmly believe that social media companies operating in the Philippines should be held accountable for decisions and policies that contradict existing Philippine laws. Let us spread awareness and encourage our fellow social media users to speak up now.
Sign up the petition here.