Authorities in the Philippines ask Facebook to remove e-sabong pages
Authorities have asked Meta, the parent company of social media platform Facebook, to block pages promoting e-sabong operations.
The Philippines.- The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has asked Facebook to block pages promoting online cockfights. DILG Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya has submitted a request listing seven Facebook pages, groups, and accounts identified by the PNP Anti-Cyber Crime Group as catering to illegal e-sabong.
According to PhilStar, Malaya stated: “We hope that Facebook will immediately suspend or block pages devoted to illegal sabong as fast as they suspend pages that allegedly violate their community standards. I presume that engaging in illegal activities is a violation of FB’s standards.”
The department has thanked the Central Bank of the Philippines for heeding President Rodrigo Duterte’s call to stop e-Sabong operations in the country by immediately ordering its bank-regulated financial institutions to remove all e-Sabong operators.
The Philippine National Police (PNP) reported last week that they had found 12 E-Sabong sites still operating.
Meanwhile, the gaming regulator PAGCOR continues seeking new forms of revenue to replace e-sabong comings. The regulator’s chairman Andrea Domingo had previously said PAGCOR could raise about Php7.2bn to Php8bn if e-sabong continued to operate until the end of 2022.
