A single meeting was enough to reverse a ban that had cut off tens of thousands of Filipino users from Discord. The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center said Thursday, Sept. 24, that it is ordering the platform’s access restored, after Discord agreed to designate a point person in the Philippines and set up a direct coordination channel with authorities — what the agency calls a “green lane.”

“Yup, we’re ordering the lifting,” said CICC Executive Director and DICT Undersecretary Renato “Aboy” Paraiso.

Discord also promised a faster process for handling investigation requests from government agencies, according to Paraiso, who apologized to the public over the ban and said authorities were working to restore access. Despite the order, access to Discord remained restricted on Globe and DITO networks as of Thursday afternoon.

The ban had gone into effect Wednesday evening, Sept. 23, when Discord users on Globe and DITO were met with a notice citing an NTC directive; the CICC said the platform had missed a 24-hour deadline to establish a local presence. DICT Secretary Henry Aguda confirmed the timing, and the NTC said the order applied to Globe and DITO subscribers specifically. Students, gamers, and freelancers who depend on the platform for work were disrupted, with some routing around the block via DNS changes or a VPN.

That deadline traced back to letters the CICC sent Discord and Reddit on Sept. 21, ordering both platforms to designate a resident agent, explain their safety and age verification measures, and warning of possible restrictions within 24 hours — a directive issued in the wake of the Sept. 18 shooting at Banga National High School in South Cotabato.

Reddit avoided Discord’s fate: after vice president of policy Jessica Ashooh and other officials met with the CICC, discussed “green lanes” for flagging harmful content, and committed to a Philippine office, the platform received an extension. Discord, by contrast, had initially responded with only a letter, prompting the CICC to clarify it had not extended Discord’s deadline pending direct talks and firm commitments.

Former DICT Undersecretary Jeffrey Ian Dy criticized the block, estimating that about 15,000 Filipino freelancers were affected — pointing to the Barangay VA Helpdesk, a Discord community of more than 12,000 members, along with the Nexus and Jobcord servers used by Filipino virtual assistants.