TWEENTIETH CONGRESS OF THE ) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES ) 
First Regular Session 
)
25 JIJL-7 A10:43
SENATE
S. No.
185
Introduced by SENATOR CAMILLE VILLAR
AN ACT
PROVIDING PROTECTION FOR CHILDREN USING THE INTERNET
EXPLANATORY NOTE
The 1987 Constitution provides that the State recognizes the vital role of the 
youth in nation-building and shall promote and protect their physical, moral, 
spiritual, intellectual, and social well-being. It shall inculcate in the youth patriotism 
and nationalism and encourage their involvement in public and civic affairs. Further, 
the 1987 Constitution mandates the State to also 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.2
The children and the youth are the most vulnerable sectors of our society. In 
order for them to attain their role in building our nation, they need special protection 
against the deleterious effects of the internet, social media and all forms of 
information and communications technology.
This bill seeks to strengthen and expand on the provisions of Republic Act No. 
11930, also known as the Anti-Online Sexual Abuse or Exploitation of Children and 
Anti-Child Sexual Abuse or Exploitation Materials (CSAEM) Act, which lapsed into
1 Article II, Section 13, 1987 Philippine Constitution
2 Article XV, Section 3, paragraph (2), 1987 Philippine Constitution


law on July 30, 2022. It will put in place mechanisms to create a safe and 
age-appropriate online environment for chiidren, to identify, prevent and mitigate the 
adverse impacts of information and communications technology, to promote 
enjoyable digital environment for children, to prohibit social media accounts for 
children below twelve (12) years of age, and to protect children's privacy, among 
others.
In view thereof, I humbly call for the swift passage of this bill.
CAMILLE VILLAR^


TWENTIETH CONGRESS OF THE ) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES ) 
First Regular Session 
)
SENATE
25 JlJL-7 A10:43
S. No.
185
Introduced by SENATOR CAMILLE VILLAR
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AN ACT
PROVIDING PROTECTION FOR CHILDREN USING THE INTERNET
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled:
Section 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the " Child Online 
Protection Act".
Sec. 2. Declaration of Policy. - Consistent with the 1987 Philippine 
Constitution, the State recognizes the vital role of the youth in nation-building and 
shall promote and protect their physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual, and social well­
being. It shall inculcate in the youth patriotism and nationalism, and encourage their 
involvement in public and civic affairs. Further, it is also the policy of the State to 
provide special protection from all forms of neglect, abuse, cruelty, exploitation, 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. The State shall vigorously promote online 
protection for children by securing their interactions in the internet.


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Sec. 3. Definition of Terms. -
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(a) "Application developer" or "app developer" refers to a professional
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responsible for designing and coding functional software programs and
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applications;
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(b) "Child" refers to person below eighteen (18) years of age or those over but
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are unable to fully take care of themselves or protect themselves from
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abuse, neglect, cruelty, exploitation or discrimination because of physical or
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mental disability or condition;
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(c) "Content provider" refers to an entity that supplies material such as text,
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music, or images for use on websites;
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(d) "Internet service provider" refers to a public telecommunication entity
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(PTE) or value-added service provider duly authorized by or registered with
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the National Telecommunications Commission that provides users or other
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entities with data connection allowing access to the internet through physical
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transport infrastructure, and such access is necessary for internet users to
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access content and services on the internet, and for content providers to
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publish or distribute materials online;
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(e) "Mobile service provider" refers to a PTE or virtual network operator, or an
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entity that provides mobile telecommunications service to subscribers;
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(f) "Notice and takedown" refers to a procedure or process for the swift removal
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of illegal content;
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(g)"Online retailer" refers to a business that sells goods over the internet and
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transports goods by mail or parcel delivery;
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(h)"Social media" refers to a digital technology that allows the sharing of ideas
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and information, including text and visuals, through virtual networks and
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communities;
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(i) "Social media platform" refers to an online forum, website, or application that
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satisfies each of the following criteria;
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(a) Allows users to upload content or view the content or activity of other
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users;
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(b)Ten (10%) percent or more of the daily active users who are below


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eighteen (18) years of age spend on average 2 hours per day or longer
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on the online forum, website, or application on the days when using the
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online forum, website, or application during the previous 12 months or,
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if the online forum, website, or application did not exist during the
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previous 12 months, during the previous month;
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(c) Employs algorithms that analyze user data or information on users to
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select content for users; and
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(d) Has any of the following addictive features:
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(1) Infinite scrolling, which means either:
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(i) Continuously loading content, or content that loads as
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the user scrolls down the page without the need to open a
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separate page; or
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(ii) Seamless content, or the use of pages with no visible or
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apparent end or page breaks.
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(2) Push notifications or alerts sent by the online forum, website, or
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application to inform a user about specific activities or events related
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to the user's account.
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(3) Displays personal interactive metrics that indicate the number of times
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other users have clicked a button to indicate their reaction to content
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or have shared or reposted the content.
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(4) Auto-play video or video that begins to play without the user first
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clicking on the video or on a play button for that video.
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(5) Live-streaming or a function that allows a user or advertiser to
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broadcast live video content in real-time.
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(e) "User-generated content" refers to any form of visual media that is
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created by users of an online system, and made accessible via social
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media.
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Sec. 4. Creating a Safe and Age-Appropriate Oniine Environment for Chiidren.
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- In pursuit of creating a safe and age-appropriate digital environment for children of
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diverse ages, mobile service providers, internet service providers, content providers,
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online retailers, app developers, and user-generated content, interactive and social
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media providers shall:
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(a) Develop a child protection or safeguarding policy to identify, prevent, and
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mitigate the adverse impacts of information communication technology
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on children;
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(b) Integrate due diligence on child online protection issues into risk
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assessment frameworks at the organizational and product or technology
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levels to identify adverse impacts on children that are directly linked to
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their operations, products or services;
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(c) Establish operational-level grievance and reporting mechanism for any
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child's rights violations such as inappropriate content or contact and
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breach of privacy;
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(d)Use customer terms and conditions and/or acceptable use policies to
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explicitly state the company's position on the misuse of its services and
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the consequences of any abuse;
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(e) Develop notice and take down (NTD) and reporting processes that allow
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users to report inappropriate content or contact on the specific
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profile/location where it was observed;
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(f) Employ appropriate technical measures to prevent underage access and
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exposure to inappropriate content or services such as parental control
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tools, age-differentiated experiences with password-protected content,
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block/allow lists, purchase/time controls, opt-out functions, filtering and
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moderating;
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(g) Ensure that content and services that are not age-appropriate for all
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users are marked with prominent display options to control access or
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offered together with age verification, if possible;
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(h) Adapt and implement heightened default privacy settings for collection,
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processing, storage, sale and publishing of personal data, including
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location-related information and browsing habits gathered from children;
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(i) Offer clear reporting tools and develop processes to act on reports of
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inappropriate content, contact and misuse and provide detailed feedback
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to service users on the reporting process; and
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(j) Monitor where, when, and how children may encounter potentially
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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, all ISPs shall:
(a) Identify customers' age where appropriate and implement a suitable solution 
to individual services;
(b) 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;
(c) 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
(d) Provide children with information on safer internet use on the landing page.
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Sec. 6. Promoting Enjoyabie Digitai Environment for Children. - User-
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generated- content, interactive and social media service providers shall create a
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safer, more enjoyable digital environment for children of diverse ages by taking
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the following actions;
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(a) Communicate in customer-friendly language within the terms of service and
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user guidelines a clear set of house rules that define (i) the nature of the
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service and what is expected of its users, (ii) what is and is not acceptable in
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terms of harmful content or behaviors, (iii) language as well as prohibiting
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illegal usage; and (iv) consequences of any breach;
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(b) Enforce minimum age requirements and take steps to identify and remove
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underage users who have misrepresented their age to gain access;
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(c) Protect younger users from uninvited communication and ensure that privacy
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and information-collection guidelines are in place;
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(d) Review hosted images and videos and delete the inappropriate ones when


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found; and
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(e) Ensure that secure passwords are used as a step towards protecting children
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in gaming and other social media settings and develop tools that actively seek
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to remove content that is illegal or in breach of the terms of condition and
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service as well as tools to prevent uploading of known illegal content to the
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site.
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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 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. Regulated Use of Online Platforms by Children. - Children below 
twelve (12) years of age shall be strictly prohibited from creating or maintaining 
personal accounts on online platforms, social media sites, or digital applications 
regardless of parental consent.
Children above twelve (12) years old but below eighteen (18) years of age 
shall not be allowed to create or maintain personal accounts on online platforms, 
social media sites, or digital applications, except when such accounts are 
established and actively supervised by their parents or legal guardians for 
educational, recreational, or other age-appropriate purposes.
Online platforms shall implement reasonable measures to ensure child 
safety, age-appropriate content, privacy protection, and accessible parental 
controls.


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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 shail 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. Consent for Collection of Persona! Information from Children. - As 
a rule, no website, online service, mobile application, or social media platform, 
directed at children or any operator who are collecting personal information from 
children, shall collect, use, or disclose such personal information without first 
obtaining verifiable parental consent.
Provided that, the operator shall provide 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 for such information.
SEC. 11. When Verifiable Parental 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


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recontact the child beyond the scope of that request:
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(i) If, before any additional response after the initial response to the child,
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the operator uses reasonable efforts to provide a parent notice of the
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online contact information collected from the child, the purposes for
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which it is to be used, and an opportunity for the parent to request
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that the operator make no further use of the information and that it is
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not be maintained in retrievable form; or
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(ii)without notice to the parent in such circumstance as the Department of
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Information and Communication and Technology (DICT) may
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determine are appropriate, taking into consideration the benefits to the
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child of access to information and services, and risks to the security
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and privacy of the child, in rules and regulations promulgated for the
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effective implementation of this Act.
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(d)The name of the child and online contact information, to the extent
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reasonably necessary to protect the safety of a child participant on the site,
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is:
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(i) Used only for the purpose of protecting such safety;
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(ii) not used to recontact the child or for any other purpose; and
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(iii)not disclosed on the site.
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If the operator uses reasonable efforts to provide a parent notice of the name
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and online contact information collected from the child, the purposes 
for
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which it is to be used, and an opportunity for the parent to request 
that the
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operator make no further use of the information and that it not be
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maintained in retrievable form; or
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(e) The collection, use or dissemination of such information by the operator of
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such website or online service is absolutely necessary:
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(i) to protect the security or integrity of its website;
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(ii) to take precaution against liability;
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(iii)to respond to judicial process; or
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(iv)to provide information to law enforcement agencies or for an
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investigation on a matter related to public safety.
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SEC. 12. Role of the Department of Information and Communications 
Technology. - The DICT shall 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.


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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 all 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 Cause. - If any provision of this Act is held invalid or 
unconstitutional, the remaining parts or provisions not affected shall remain in full 
force and effect.
SEC. 19. Repealing Cause. - All laws, decrees, executive orders, rules and 
regulations, issuances, or parts thereof inconsistent with this Act are hereby 
repealed or amended accordingly.
SEC. 20. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
publication in the Official Gazette ov a newspaper of general circulation.
Approved,
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