Jonathan Frederic De Santos

Article (news)

Signal chat app

ABS-CBN News

<p>MANILA<strong> (UPDATED)</strong> — The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center this week raised the possibility of blocking access to encrypted messaging app Signal over concerns of “spoofing” — users pretending to be someone else, in this case, high-ranking government officials.</p><p>The proposal comes a few weeks after a call for social media registration and has met stiff opposition over concerns on the privacy of communication.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/technology/2026/2/7/social-media-registration-to-burden-ordinary-users-curtail-speech-rights-advocates-1224">Social media registration to burden ordinary users, curtail speech — rights advocates<br/></a></div><p>It has also raised suspicion that the move is meant to shield officials who may be implicated in the flood control controversy.</p><p>Acting CICC head Renato Paraiso said the government is concerned that Signal messages could be made to seem “someone is transacting with government officials regarding the flood control scandal”, which, he said, could then be used to frame them.</p><p>He said it is difficult for government to trace users because they cannot match them to their registered SIM cards.</p><p>IT rights groups warn, however, that blocking access to Signal over that very specific concern would again have the public &quot;surrender a little more privacy for the promise of safety&quot; like it did with the SIM Card Registration Act.</p><div><a class="fr-strong fr-green" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/6/sotto-suggestion-to-fight-trolls-one-person-one-social-media-account-1619">Sotto suggestion to fight &#x27;trolls&#x27;: One person, one social media account</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>WHAT IS SIGNAL?</strong></div><p>Signal is an end-to-end encrypted messaging service where users can, if they want to, hide their real names and the number of the mobile phone they are using it on.</p><p>Activists and members of civil society use it to keep communications more secure.</p><p>It was used, for example, to organize the George Floyd protests in the US in 2020.</p><p>In 2021, the United Nations suggested that Myanmar people use it to report alleged rights violations during the coup there.</p><p>Civil society and journalists in the Philippines use it too for project management and to talk to sources and colleagues.</p><p>&quot;Privacy-protecting encrypted communication platforms safeguard the confidentiality of sensitive personal data,&quot; according to Carlos Nazareno, director for rights at IT rights organization Democracy.Net.PH, which opposes the proposal.</p><p>&quot;They also prevent interception and alteration of communications and protect people from cyber threats,&quot; he told ABS-CBN News in an online exchange. </p><p>Many regular people use it too for private communications, which is guaranteed by the 1987 Constitution.</p><p>&quot;Society has much to hide (personal, private matters), and it is our right to do so,&quot; Nazareno said.</p><p>&quot;It is in private safe spaces where people can be their true selves,&quot; he said, adding diminished privacy could create a &quot;chilling effect&quot; that could lead to self-censorship and diminished participation in issues that affect society.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/technology/2025/3/25/what-is-signal-and-is-it-secure-0750">What is Signal and is it secure?<br/></a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>WHO NEEDS SIGNAL?</strong></div><p>Nobody really needs it. There are other encrypted messaging services like Telegram, which has a bigger user base, and more secure ones like Matrix and Element. Facebook Messenger even promises a more secure end-to-end encrypted chat.</p><p>Privacy, which can include anonymity, though, is a right and is essential to democracy.</p><p>The loss of one channel for secure communications would bring the Philippines much &quot;closer to living in an Orwellian dystopia where thoughts may be considered crimes,&quot; Democracy.Net.PH, which has been advocating online rights since the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, said.</p><p>If the government decides to block access to Signal, it would join a club that includes Iran, Russia, China and Venezuela.</p><p>Tech group Data and AI Ethics PH warns that blocking Signal would be an &quot;overbroad and disproportionate&quot; response to the threat of spoofing, which also happens elsewhere as anyone who has received a fake job offer on Viber knows.</p><p>&quot;More troublingly, such a ban would set a dangerous precedent,&quot; <a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/proposed-ban-messaging-platform-signal-philippines-yubtc/">the group said in a February 11 post</a>, adding it would normalize blocking &quot;privacy‑preserving technologies...whenever they are perceived as inconvenient to enforcement efforts.&quot;</p><p>It said that spoofing is a legitimate threat but &quot;efforts to address these harms must be grounded in clear, demonstrable evidence and must exhaust less intrusive alternatives before considering any regulation that limits access to communication services.&quot;</p><p><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.facebook.com/CPUnion/posts/pfbid0PXDSauuMRMdAuhnm5Drw1sJ2gscux9n9B8uQ6BRmnJwRgpvKT9HAKytDF6XJBX8Vl?__cft__[0]=AZYw-8UYPvbgoyr6RTaW3heNnX2RvY46LFKt2UL2pHJm09qbIc0ujOFBxq300fKLlha9y9bpILk1Y-6-uW4T7WqmLOaTD4G8FE6ccqGWEwXEejHfeRs_g5lQVK0rcBm6Arg2gYACRu5Kp1ypQDYJUJXf7s4r3dXTPrPIgy5hXJ9SWkLbC_nWsY3deoE4JklnMIQ&amp;__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R">In a separate post</a>, the Computer Professionals&#x27; Union said that &quot;instead of strengthening investigative capacity or improving inter-agency coordination, the government is once again defaulting to restriction and control.&quot;</p><p>It added that the ban would be easy to bypass through VPNs or by switching to other apps.</p><p>&quot;Those intent on committing fraud will adapt. Ordinary users—journalists, activists, professionals, and private citizens who rely on secure communication—are the ones who stand to lose,&quot; it said.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>WHAT DOES IT HAVE TO DO WITH THE FLOOD CONTROL MESS?</strong></div><p>It has not been said outright, but the CICC raised its concerns about Signal amid news over a supposed and yet unseen record of alleged communication between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and former Palace official Adrian Bersamin about alleged kickbacks from the projects.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/13/palace-on-alleged-marcos-jr-kickback-messages-have-you-seen-them-1557">Palace on alleged Marcos Jr. kickback messages: Have you seen them?</a></div><p>ACT Teachers Party-List Rep. Antonio Tinio, one of the Makabayan lawmakers calling for a probe into the supposed messages, has <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/13/alleged-marcos-bersamin-messages-double-hearsay-ridon-2140">acknowledged they are hearsay for now </a>but can be the basis for investigation.</p><p>&quot;Why block Signal now, amid publicly reported allegations that President Marcos and a &#x27;bagman&#x27; used it to discuss the exchange of billions of corrupted funds?&quot; CPU said in its statement.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>WOULD A BAN BE LEGAL?</strong></div><p>Democracy.Net.PH also raises the question of whether government can arbitrarily block Signal at all. </p><div><strong></strong></div><p>Citing the Supreme Court decision on the Cybercrime Prevention Act, Nazareno, pointed out that &quot;in seeking to block Internet services such as messaging platforms (or websites), entities like [Department of Information and Communications Technology] first need to secure a court order,&quot; a requirement that is often bypassed.</p><p><a class="fr-strong fr-green" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/technology/2026/1/16/philippines-dict-bans-grok-0748">The DICT in January blocked xAI&#x27;s Grok app</a> in January, lifting it shortly after xAI representatives promised better protections against child pornography. </p><p>The National Telecommunications Commission did that to alternative news websites in 2022, a move that a Quezon City Court <a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/11/26/court-rules-ntc-blocking-of-bulatlat-other-sites-violates-free-speech-1936">ruled last November violated free speech</a>.</p><p>Nazareno said the Philippine government could enter into an agreement with the Signal Foundation &quot;for coordination on online harms&quot; like those signed with Google and YouTube this week to expedite takedowns of exploitative content, deepfakes and other threats.</p><p>He warned, however, against using threats of nationwide bans to secure user data, saying it might force the Signal Foundation to also cave in elsewhere and embolden the use of the tactic against other apps.</p><p>CPU meanwhile said the proposal for blocking follows a similar pattern to the SIM Card Registration Act and other measures that reduce privacy.</p><p>&quot;Each time, the public is asked to surrender a little more privacy for the promise of safety.&quot;</p>

<p>The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center this week raised the possibility of blocking access to encrypted messaging app Signal over concerns of “spoofing” — users pretending to be someone else, in this case, high-ranking government officials.</p>

The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center this week raised the possibility of blocking access to encrypted messaging app Signal over concerns of “spoofing” — users pretending to be someone else, in this case, high-ranking government officials.

Privacy leaves the chat: CICC proposal to block Signal raises red flags

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Privacy leaves the chat: CICC proposal to block Signal raises red flags

Jonathan de Santos,

ABS-CBN News

Published February 15, 2026 10:30 PM PHT

|

Updated February 16, 2026 10:57 AM PHT

Read More:

Signal

Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center

Department of Information and Communications Technology

Democracy.Net.PH

Computer Professionals' Union

Data and AI Ethics PH

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