Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

TWENTIETH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

1393

HOUSE BILL NO.

“Introduced by: Hon. Iris Marie D. Montes

AN ACT
PROVIDING PROTECTION FOR CHILDREN USING THE INTERNET

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This bill seeks to promote the safety of children while using the Internet in
consonance with Section 3(2), Article XV, of the 1987 Constitution, which provides that,
“The State shall defend the right of children to assistance, including proper care and
nutrition, and special protection from _all_forms of neglect, abuse, cruelty,
exploitation, and other conditions prejudicial to their development” (emphasis
supplied).

It is in line with Section 13, Article II, which mandates the State to promote and
protect the physical, moral, spiritual, psychological, and social well-being of children and
in pursuit of the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
(UNCRC), which recognizes that “In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken
by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or
legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.”

The UNCRC also establishes that all children have a right to education; to leisure,
play and culture; to obtain appropriate information; to freedom of thought and
expression; to privacy and to express their views on matters that affect them in
accordance with their evolving capacities. It also protects children from all forms of
violence, exploitation and abuse and discrimination of any kind and ensures that the
child’s best interest should be the primary consideration in any matters affecting them.

The measure is in response to the exponential growth and impact of new
technologies that are now thoroughly integrated into the lives of countless children and
young people.

According to the UNICEF, “The proliferation of Internet access points, mobile
technology and the growing array of Internet-enabled devices - combined with the
immense resources to be found in cyberspace ~ provide unprecedented opportunities to
learn, share and communicate."

With these developments, however, are the risks of using the Internet. These
include children being exposed to inappropriate content for their age or to inappropriate
contact, including from potential perpetrators of sexual abuse. They can suffer
reputational damage associated with publishing sensitive personal information either
online or through ‘sexting’, having failed to fully comprehend the implications for
themselves and others of their long-term ‘digital footprints’?

Privacy, illegal content, harassment, cyberbullying, misuse of personal data or
grooming for sexual purposes and abuse are issues that accompany the use of Internet by
children that must be acted upon with urgency and firmness.

' Guidelines for the Industry on Child Online Protection, UNICEF, 2015 Edition
2 Ibid.


The 2020 Child Online Safety Index (COSI), the world’s first-real-time analytic
platform to help nations see the status of their children’s online safety by the DQ
Institute, an international think-tank that is dedicated to setting global standards for
digital intelligence, gave the Philippines a below average score of 28.3 among thirty (30)
countries that have the best online safety for children.

Accordingly, the report shows that children the world over are facing “cyber-
pandemic”, specifically 8 - 12 years old children where 17% of them experienced risky
contact or offline meeting with strangers or sexual contact; 39% experienced reputational
risks; 29% are exposed to risky content (violent or sexual); 45% are affected by cyber-
bullying; 13% are at risk for gaming disorder; 7% are at risk for social media disorder;
28% experienced cyber threats; and 60% are exposed to cyber risks.

A study by cybersecurity company Surfshark, on the other hand, found that Filipino
children’s exposure to online risks such as cyberbullying, phishing and hacking was the
second-highest in the world.

Thus, the imperativeness of creating a clear and predictable “legal and regulatory
environment which supports businesses and other thirds parties to meet their
responsibilities to safeguard children’s rights throughout their operations...”*

In this light, the proposed iegislation gears towards the adoption of a regulatory
policy where an effective mechanism for the development of protection or safeguarding
policy to identify, prevent, and mitigate the adverse impacts of information
communication technology on children may be established.

It primarily engages the participation of relevant stakeholders with an interest in
online child protection such as industry players and educators insofar as they are among
the key stakeholders in the child online protection ecosystem.

Industry players, in particular, have enormous responsibility to help promote
awareness of the online safety of children by building robust checks and balances to
identify the user and provide children with a conducive online environment. A regulatory
framework such as those that provide certain obligations for companies to detect, block
and/or remove harm against children from platform services, as well as to provide clear
reporting routes and access to support is certainly imperative if children are to be
protected online.

According to DQ Institute, “Social media, gaming, telecom, and device companies
must include child online safety as a core business principle (Emphasis supplied).”

This proposal builds on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights,
which call on businesses to meet their responsibility to respect children’s rights by
avoiding any adverse impacts linked to their operations, products or services.

The bill mandates mobile service providers, internet service providers, content
providers, online retailers, app developers, and user-generated content, interactive and
social media providers to create a safe and age-appropriate digital environment for
children of diverse ages; identify, prevent and mitigate the adverse impacts of information
and communications technologies on children’s rights; and create a safer, more enjoyable
digital environment for children.

3 Filipino kids are the second most vulnerable to online threats globally — study, Ramon Royandoyan,
Philstar.com, April 26, 2022 (https://www.philstar.com/business/2022/04/26/2176906/filipino-kids-are-second-
‘most-vulnerable-online-threats-globally-study#:~:text=MANILA%2C%20Philippines%20—
%20Filipino%20kids%20are, second%2Dhighest%20in%20the%20world.) Accessed on 20 June 2024

“ Guidelines for policy-makers on Child Online Protection, International telecommunication union, 2020

> Ibid.



It requires online users to submit a valid proof of identification prior to registration
for social media services and provides protection of children’s online privacy.

Following the recent enactment of a law in Florida, USA that restricts social media
use for children, the measure also provides for a ban on children under 14 years of age
from having social media accounts.

This bill draws from the broad recommendations of the Child Online Protection
(COP) Initiative, a multi-stakeholder network launched by the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU), a UN specialized agency for information and
communication technologies.

In view thereof, approval of this bill is earnestly sought.

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Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

TWENTIETH CONGRESS
First Regular Session
1333

HOUSE BILL NO.

Introduced by: Hon. Iris Marie D. Montes

AN ACT
PROVIDING PROTECTION FOR CHILDREN USING THE INTERNET

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in
Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Title. - This Act shall be known as the “Child Online Protection Act.”

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. - Consistent with Section 13, Article II of the
Philippine Constitution, the State recognizes the vital role of the youth in nation-building
and promotes and protects their physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual, and social well-
being, It is also the policy of the State to provide special protection to children from all
forms of abuse, neglect, cruelty, exploitation and discrimination and other conditions,
prejudicial to their development.

The best interests of children shall be the paramount consideration in all actions
concerning them, whether undertaken by public or private institutions. Every effort shall
be exerted to promote the welfare of children and enhance their opportunities for a useful
and happy life.

Towards this end, the State shall vigorously promote online protection for children
by securing their interactions and transactions in the Internet.

SEC. 3. - Definition of Terms:

(a) “Application developer” or “app developer” refers to a professional responsible
for designing and coding functional software programs and applications;

(b) "Child" refers to person below eighteen (18) years of age or those over but are
unable to fully take care of themselves or protect themselves from abuse,
neglect, cruelty, exploitation or discrimination because of a physical or mental
disability or condition;

(c) “Content provider” refers to an entity that supplies material such as text, music,
or images for use on websites;

(d) “Internet service provider” refers to a public telecommunication entity (PTE) or
value-added service (VAS) provider duly authorized by or registered with the
National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) that provides users or other
entities with data connection allowing access to the internet through physical
transport infrastructure, and such access is necessary for internet users to
access content and services on the internet, and for content providers to publish
or distribute materials online;

(e) “Mobile service provider” refers to a public telecommunications entity or virtual
network operator, or an entity that provides mobile telecommunications service
to subscribers;

(f) “Notice and takedown” refers to a procedure or process for the swift removal of
illegal content;

(g) “Online retailer” refers to a business that sells goods over the internet and
transports goods by mail or parcel delivery;


(h) "Social media” refers to a digital technology that allows the sharing of ideas and
information, including text and visuals, through virtual networks and
communities;

(i) “Social media platform” refers to an online forum, website, or application that
satisfies each of the following criteria:

(a) Allows users to upload content or view the content or activity of other users;

(b)Ten percent or more of the daily active users who are younger than 16 years
of age spend on average 2 hours per day or longer on the online forum,
website, or application on the days when using the online forum, website, or
application during the previous 12 months or, if the online forum, website, or
application did not exist during the previous 12 months, during the previous
month;

(c) Employs algorithms that analyze user data or information on users to select
content for users; and

(d) Has any of the following addictive features:

(1) Infinite scrolling, which means either:

(i) Continuously loading content, or content that loads as the user scrolls
down the page without the need to open a separate page; or

(ii) Seamless content, or the use of pages with no visible or apparent end
or page breaks.

(2) Push notifications or alerts sent by the online forum, website, or
application to inform a user about specific activities or events related to
the user's account.

(3) Displays personal interactive metrics that indicate the number of times
other users have clicked a button to indicate their reaction to content or
have shared or reposted the content.

(4) Auto-play video or video that begins to play without the user first clicking
on the video or on a play button for that video.

(5) Live-streaming or a function that allows a user or advertiser to broadcast
live video content in real-time.

(e)"User-generated content” refers to any form of visual media that is created
by users of an online system, and made accessible via social media;

SEC. 4. Creating a Safe and Age-Appropriate Online Environment for Children. - In
pursuit of creating a safe and age-appropriate digital environment for children of diverse
ages, mobile service providers, internet service providers, content providers, online
retailers, app developers, and user-generated content, interactive and social media
providers shall:

(a)Develop a child protection or safeguarding policy to identify, prevent, and
mitigate the adverse impacts of information communication technology on
children;

(b)Integrate due diligence on child online protection issues into risk assessment
frameworks at the organizational and product or technology levels to identify
adverse impacts on children that are directly linked to their operations, products
or services;

(c) Establish operational-level grievance and reporting mechanism for any child's
rights violations such as inappropriate content or contact and breach of privacy;

(d)Use customer terms and conditions and/or acceptable use policies to explicitly
state the company’s position on the misuse of its services and the consequences
of any abuse;


(e) Develop notice and take down (NTD) and reporting processes that allow users to
report inappropriate content or contact on the specific profile/location where it
was observed;

(f) Employ appropriate technical measures to prevent underage access and
exposure to inappropriate content or services such as parental control tools,
age-differentiated experiences with password-protected content, block/allow
lists, purchase/time controls, opt-out functions, filtering and moderating;

(g)Ensure that content and services that are not age-appropriate for all users are
marked with prominent display options to control access or offered together with
age verification, if possible.

(h)Adapt and implement heightened default privacy settings for collection,
processing, storage, sale and publishing of personal data, including location-
related information and browsing habits gathered from children;

(i) Offer clear reporting tools and develop processes to act on reports of
inappropriate content, contact and misuse and provide detailed feedback to
service users on the reporting process; and

(j) Monitor where, when, and how children may encounter potentially harmful
advertising messages intended for another market segment.

SEC. 5. Identification, Prevention and Mitigation of the Adverse Impacts of ICT. -
Internet service providers shall identify, prevent and mitigate the adverse impacts of
information and communications technologies on children’s rights and identify
opportunities to support the advancement of children’s rights.

Towards this end, ISPs shall:

(1)Identify customers’ age where appropriate and implement a suitable solution to
individual services;

(2)Provide mechanisms such as parental control software and tools that enable
parents to manage their children’s access to Internet resources in the form of
white lists, content filters, usage monitoring, contact management, or
time/program limits;

(3)Within the service itself, at the point of uploading content, include reminders
about such topics as the type of content that is considered to be inappropriate;
and

(4) Provide children with information on safer Internet use on the landing page.

SEC. 6. Promoting Enjoyable Digital Environment for Children. - User-generated-
content, interactive and social media service providers shall create a safer, more
enjoyable digital environment for children of diverse ages by taking the following actions:

(1) Communicate in customer-friendly language within the terms of service and user
guidelines a clear set of house rules that define (a) the nature of the service and
what is expected of its users, (b) what is and is not acceptable in terms of
harmful content, behaviors, (c) language as well as prohibiting illegal usage;
and (d) consequences of any breach;

(2)Enforce minimum age requirements and take steps to identify and remove
underage users who have misrepresented their age to gain access; and

(3)Protect younger users from uninvited communication and ensure that privacy
and information-collection guidelines are in place;

(4)Review hosted images and videos and delete the inappropriate ones when
found; and

(5)Ensure that secure passwords are used as a step towards protecting children in
gaming and other social media settings and develop tools that actively seek to
remove content that is illegal or in breach of the terms of condition and service
as well as tools to prevent uploading of known illegal content to the site.


SEC. 7. Electronic Identification Requirement. - Social media providers and other
similar online platforms shall require online users to submit a valid proof of identification
prior to registration for their services.

For Philippine-based users, government-issued identification cards, including
barangay certification of identity shall be sufficient proof of identification for purposes of
this Act.

Existing members shall be required to submit a valid identification card as a
condition for continuing membership on their platform.

SEC. 8. Prohibiting Social Media Accounts for Children Below Fourteen (14) Years of
Age. - A social media platform shall prohibit a child who is younger than fourteen (14)
years of age from entering into a contract with a social media platform to become an
account holder.

In furtherance of this prohibition, a social media platform shall terminate any
account held by an account holder younger than 14 years of age, including accounts that
the social media platform treats or categorizes as belonging to an account holder who is
likely younger than 14 years of age for purposes of targeting content or advertising, and
provide ninety (90) days for an account holder to dispute such termination. Termination
shall be effective upon the expiration of the 90 days if the account holder fails to
effectively dispute the termination.

A social media platform shall prohibit a child who is 14 or fifteen (15) years of age
from entering into a contract with a social media platform to become an account holder,
unless the child's parent or guardian provides consent for such child to become an account
holder.

SEC. 9. Protection of Children’s Privacy. - Mobile network operators are hereby
prohibited from collecting, using or disclosing personal information from children in a
manner that violates the provisions of this Act. An operator of such website or online
service or the operator’s agent shall not be held liable for any disclosure made in good
faith and following reasonable procedures in responding to a request for disclosure of
personal information to the parent of a child as provided under this Act.

SEC. 10, Collection of Personal Information from Children. - The collection of
personal data from children by any website or online service directed to children may be
allowed provided that the following requirements are complied with:

(a)The operator provides notice on the website or online service of what
information is collected from children, how the operator uses such information,
and the operator's disclosure practices for such information; and

(b)The operator obtains verifiable parental consent for the collection, use or
disclosure of personal information from children.

SEC. 11. When Consent is Not Required. - Verifiable parental consent shall not be
required under the following circumstances:

(a) Online contact information collected from a child that is used only to respond
directly on a one-time basis to a specific request from the child and is not used
to recontact the child and is not maintained in retrievable form from the
operator;

(b)A request for the name or online contact information of a parent or child that is
used for the sole purpose of obtaining parental consent or providing notice
under this Section and where such information is not maintained in retrievable
form by the operator if parental consent is not obtained after a reasonable time;


(c) Online contact information collected from a child that is used only to respond
more than once directly to a specific request from the child and is not used to
recontact the child beyond the scope of that request:

(i) If, before any additional response after the initial response to the child, the
operator uses reasonable efforts to provide a parent notice of the online
contact information collected from the child, the purposes for which it is to
be used, and an opportunity for the parent to request that the operator
make no further use of the information and that it is not be maintained in
retrievable form; or

(li) without notice to the parent in such circumstance as the Department of
Information and Communication and Technology (DICT) may determine
are appropriate, taking into consideration the benefits to the child of access
to information and services, and risks to the security and privacy of the
child, in rules and regulations promulgated for the effective implementation
of this Act.

(d)The name of the child and online contact information, to the extent reasonably
necessary to protect the safety of a child participant on the site, is:

(i) Used only for the purpose of protecting such safety;
(ji) not used to recontact the child or for any other purpose; and
(iii) not disclosed on the site;

If the operator uses reasonable efforts to provide a parent notice of the name
and online contact information collected from the child, the purposes for which it is to
be used, and an opportunity for the parent to request that the operator make no
further use of the information and that it not be maintained in retrievable form; or

(e)The collection, use or dissemination of such information by the operator of such
website or online service is necessary:

(i) to protect the security or integrity of its website;

(ii) to take precaution against liability;

(ili) to respond to judicial process; or

(iv) to provide information to law enforcement agencies or for an
investigation on a matter related to public safety.

SEC. 12. Role of the Department of Information and Communications Technology. -
The DICT shail be the primary agency tasked with the protection of children using the
Internet and the implementation of this Act.

SEC. 13. Public Awareness Programs - The DICT shall, in consultation with the
Philippine Information Agency and other relevant agencies of government, private sector,
and civil society organizations, develop, lead, undertake and coordinate a nationwide
program to heighten public awareness and involvement in furtherance of the purposes of
this Act. The program shall utilize existing resources and efforts of the national
government, local governments, private organizations, and non-government organizations
and shall include:

(a) Identifying, promoting, and encouraging best practices for Internet safety;
(b) Establishing and carrying out a national outreach and Internet Safety Education
campaign regarding Internet safety utilizing various media and Internet-based
resources;

(c) Facilitating access to, and the exchange of, information regarding Internet
safety to promote up-to-date knowledge regarding Internet safety; and

(d) Facilitating access to Internet safety education and public awareness efforts of
the government, nonprofit organizations, and other appropriate entities.


SEC. 14. Digital Citizenship Literacy Program. - The promotion of digital citizenship
literacy program shall be inculcated in all levels of education nationwide. Consistent with
Section 5 of Republic Act No. 10533, or the “Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013”, the
Department of Education (DepEd) shall ensure that the K to 12 curriculum shall be
supported by programs on digital literacy.

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Technical Education and
Skills Development Authority (TESDA) shall ensure the promotion of programs on digital
citizenship literacy.

SEC. 15. Online Safety Coordinators. - There shall be appointed an Online Safety
Coordinator (OSC) in all primary and secondary schools. They shall ensure the protection
of ail students from potential harms that may occur through the Internet and electronic
media and serve as the main contact persons on all online-related issues. OSCs shall act
as auditor of online safety measures, including the collection and recording of online
safety incidents.

SEC. 16. Penalties. - Violations of this Act shall be penalized by imprisonment
ranging from one (1) year to three (3) years or a fine of not less than Five hundred
thousand pesos (Php500,000.00) but not more than Two million pesos (Php2,000,000.00)
or both, at the discretion of the court.

SEC. 17. Appropriations. - The amount necessary to carry out the provisions of this
Act is hereby authorized to be appropriated in the General Appropriations Act of the year
following its enactment into law and thereafter.

SEC. 18. Separability Clause. - If for any reason, a provision or part thereof is
declared invalid, other provisions not affected thereby shall remain in full force and effect.

SEC. 19. Repealing Clause. - All Acts, decrees, executive orders, rules and
regulations contrary or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed or
modified accordingly.

SEC. 20. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days following its
publication in two (2) national newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,