The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) said they are assessing if it is legally and technically feasible to deactivate services, such as social media access, for those who refuse to register their Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards.
SIM card (Unsplash)
NTC Deputy Commissioner Jon Paulo Salvahan said they are closely coordinating with public telecommunication entities (PTEs) to determine if the proposed measure is feasible.
“We are continuously discussing the legal and technical feasibility of these proposals [with PTEs]. We expect it to [be] released soon, hopefully if not within this week, by next week, we can have a final study or at least a resolution on that matter,” said Salvahan in an interview over CNN Philippines on Wednesday, April 26.
To provide context, Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Ivan John Uy said they are planning on “incentivizing” the public to register because “some are not taking the deadlines seriously.”
Uy said they will observe the rate of registration during the 90-day extension and after a certain period of time, they will start deactivating SIM card services such as access to Facebook and TikTok accounts. Under this proposal, PTEs will be responsible for “whitelisting” applications or social media services for the unregistered subscribers.
The Republic Act No. 11934, or the SIM Registration Act, states that automatic deactivation of SIMs will happen if an individual fails to comply with the law. It, however, does not state that the government can partially deactivate services within the period of registration.
According to Salvahan, this measure has not been done yet in the Philippines, but it already was implemented in foreign countries.
“As far as I know in the country, it hasn't been done yet, but I think in other countries it’s been done where they deactivate certain social media services. I'm not sure if it's for a particular class of individuals or it's a general implementation, but I’ve seen that in other countries,” Salvahan furthered.