Badtrip ako sa Reddit PH mod at sa DTI

 

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Over a year ago, um-attend ako ng Reddit moderator workshop sa isang gallery sa Makati. Na-meet ko yung dalawang mods dun ng Reddit na associated sa Reddit Philippines. Yung isa, according sa LinkedIn employed by Reddit mismo but working remotely (sa Pinas most likely).

So workshop, workshop… games, activities, snack and giving of certificate of attendance. Ang highlight is yung paggawa ng bagong sub na unique – so our group came up with sub Paano Ba To. Apat kami sa small group namin – so tinuruan kami mag-setup ng new sub, rules, mod tools etc. So parang kumuha lang ng idea si Reddit sa min for a new sub that will attract new visitors. Ka-wave namin yung mga mods ng sub San May Bidet

I learned na Reddit is actively doing these workshops for 1 reason – to increase viewership, user engagement on Reddit, by creating new subs and assigning new mods to not-so-regulated subs. Syempre nga naman, more activities on Reddit means more revenue for them… sa ads placement na lang paldo na sila. They can even afford to employ a Filipino locally to handle Reddit PH. So may pera talaga sa PH community ng Reddit. Sa event na ‘to napanalunan ko yung 1-year subscription ko sa Reddit roughly P3,000 a year.

A few weeks later, na-permaban yung account kong nabigyan ng premium subscription – 4 years old account with 70k+ na walang history ng warning man lang. Banned, across Reddit platform, permanently. “Breaking the rules”, “Spamming” ang sinabing reasons ng Mod. So since kilala ko na nga yung PH Mod ng Reddit PH, nag-message ako sa kanya regarding my account. Sinabi n’ya na yung violation ko raw was “affiliate linking” which is NOT clearly defined by Reddit rules. It was a gray area daw. So ia-appeal daw n’ya sa Reddit pero wala ding nangyari. The permaban is still there.

So nag-file ako sa Consumer Welfare ng DTI at sa DICT, CICC, asking for unbanning my account dahil nga, hindi clear yung violation and sanction ko. Nothing they can do about it since internal process. But they did agree na it’s a violation of the Consumer Law since I’m not enjoying my subscription due to the ban. The TOS of Reddit says no refund whatsoever, but Consumer Welfare said, PH Consumer Law is above ALL TOS of ALL COMPANIES operating in the PH, Reddit included.

So natuloy sa mediation meeting via Teams yung kaso, no show si Reddit, hanggang sa DTI Adjudication Division, who dismissed the case due to lack of jurisdiction. May merit ang case, kahit na 1) hindi daw ako subscriber dahil hindi ako mismo ang bumili ng subscription (yung mod ng Reddit ang bumili for me) at 2) walang opisina ang Reddit na pagdadalhan ng sulat from DTI.

This was affirmed by the DTI Secretary nung naglabas ng decision on my appeal against DTI-FTEB. They cited Department Administrative Order No. 20-02, Series of 2020 (DAO 20-02), saying it is required to be done by physical means, either through personal service or registered mail/accredited courier.

Aminado si DTI Secretary na yes, may communication from Reddit to CICC who messaged them on my behalf, but electronic communications is not enough. Physically, dapat matanggap ni Reddit yung sulat.

Same lang din sa issue ng Facebook regarding fake news. Nag-send ng Snail Mail ang PH Government sa Meta, posted online yung copy, at binigyan sila ng 48 hours to acknowledge yung complaint letter and up to 7 days to reply. Hindi nag-acknowledge si Meta na natanggap nila yung complaint ng gobyerno at hindi sila nag-reply sa complaint within 7 days.

Gobyerno na yun ha. Balak ko sana i-akyat sa Court of Appeals ang kaso, pero P5,000 ang filing fee which is malaking pera sa panahon ngayon. Tapos ako pa gagawa ng Notice of Appeal and being non-lawyer, mahihirapan ako. Mas mahal pa kung magha-hire ako ng lawyer to draft it. Not economically feasible. Manalo man ako, need pa rin ng amendment sa batas para i-require ang mga social media platforms na magkaroon ng physical office or legal representative sa Pinas.

So dun na lang ako mag-focus at least libre lang mangulit ng mga senador to amend the Internet Transactions Act of 2023 to include such section. Hopefully mangyari ito sa future dahil ang dami kong nagbabasa, sa GC namin, sa FB na mga naba-ban ni Meta for no reasons at all.

Dito nga sa Reddit, ang daming nagsasabing ipa-ban na lang ang Meta dahil nga sa issue ng fake news, ban waves, among others, hangga’t hindi nagi-improve. Pag may nakita akong petition na ganito or group na naga-advocate nito, definitely sasali ako, at ia-advocate ko na Syempre all social media companies should be held accountable.

Nakakalungkot lang na sa Pinas, ‘pag ang reklamo mo ay hindi against sa corruption sa gobyerno, parang sobrang trivial para sa kanila. Eh considering na ang dami nang Pinoys ang sumisigaw versus corruption. Tsaka sabi nga ng isang tao sa gobyerno, multi-tasking sila, so go lang kung gaano man kaliit complaints natin.

Sa India, sa EU, sa Australia, yung mga social media platforms ang nag-adjust para sa kanila, dahil their people and their government demanded change. Dito sa atin, parang sinasabi na lang na “libre naman ang Reddit, Facebook ano pang nire-reklamo mo?” Hangga’t ganito ang mentality ng karamihan, eh we truly deserve the government we have right now.

Reddit and Facebook are sampling ng ugali ng mga Filipino – and it’s toxic talaga. I use to think na Redditors are somehow, more intelligent when it comes to discussion but sadly, same lang din sa FB. Dismissing any posts by ad hominem, insults, name-calling and dismissing your post as mema lang, pasikat, pabibo. I’ve been insulted to the roof, the same way “intellectuals” insulted DDS, and DDS “smart-shaming” others. It’s a vicious cycle here and the healthy discussion that Reddit was supposed to champion, I don’t know what sub has it.

So yeah, we really deserve the shit that we’re in right now. Thanks for reading.