NTC orders telcos to block clickable links in text messages

After the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) ordered for text blast against recent surge of text scams, the agency now has urged the telco giants to deactivate clickable links in text messages.

NTC through their memorandum dated September 12, directed Dito Telecommunity, Globe Telecom, and Smart Communications to “block or deactivate domains or Uniform Resource Locators (URLs), TinyURLs, Smart Links and/or QR Codes emanating from malicious sites.”

National Telecommunications Commission memorandum | via @pplmanuel, CNN Philippines

NTC stated that these malicious sites are based on the existing database extracted from government agencies including National Privacy Commission, Department of Trade and Industry, law enforcement agencies, and the NTC itself.

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The memo further read that the database also covered subscriber reports, and those generated from machine learning and AI.

NTC expects compliance of the said telco companies to submit their written reports to its Office of the Commissioner on or before September 16.