The Philippine government ordered Facebook Inc., Lazada Group and Sea Ltd’s Shopee to stop selling unregistered portable mobile phone transmitters, which a local media said may be used by politicians campaigning for the May 2022 elections.
The National Telecommunications Commission said the sale of these equipment, which can send text messages to nearby mobile-phone users, violates the law on radio control as well as an order prohibiting the use of portable cellular mobile repeaters.
The machines were being sold for as much as P3 million ($59,256) each in online shops, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported on Oct. 10, saying that political groups could be secretly using them.
The online shops were ordered by the NTC to stop selling the device marketed as “Hitech SMS Blaster” and their representatives to appear before the commission on Oct. 27, according to the regulator’s Oct. 11 order. The equipment may not be sold, bought or used except by the disaster management council and other authorized state agencies in times of emergency, NTC Deputy Commissioner Edgardo Cabarios said in a phone message reply.
Earlier this month, the NTC ordered an investigation into emergency text blasts announcing the presidential bid of ex-senator Bongbong Marcos, son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos. The camp of Marcos said on Oct. 6 that it supports the probe, adding that the text blast happened when Bongbong filed his candidacy and suspects it was part of “demolition jobs” against him. — Bloomberg