EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
)
First Regular Session 
)
SENATE
■ 
p . y ;  
■
m .it of t’oc !£>i-;r:tnrp
S. No.
Introduced by SENATOR LEILA M. DE LIMA
RECL 
c.
A N  A C T
REQUIRING COMMERCIAL ESTABLISHMENTS AND PUBLIC 
INSTITUTTONS TO USE APPROPRIATE FILTERING DEVICES AND 
FIREWALLS THAT WILL RESTRICT CHILDREN’S ACCESS TO 
HARMFUL MATERIALS, DEFINING FOR THAT PURPOSE OFFENSES 
RELATED THERETO, PRESCRIBING PENALTIES THEREFOR AND FOR
OTHER PURPOSES
EXPLANATORY NOTE
Computer technology7 has enhanced our lives in many ways, as demonstrated 
by its prevalent use in businesses, homes, schools, libraries and even in commercial 
establishments.
For children especially, the Internet provides unique educational opportunities 
and even serves as their primary source for research. However, the onset of this 
technology has also brought about a different \enue for child predators and 
perpetrators of crime.
A double-edged sword, technology has birthed advantages worthy of rejoice, as 
well as drawbacks from which we should protect ourselves, but more importantly, our 
children. The advent of technological advancements that have made daily activities 
easier, has also opened the floodgates to unlimited access to the world-wide web and 
everything it has to offer, to which our children can and will be exposed throughout 
their lives. UNICEF representative Julia Rees was quoted saying, “Filipino children 
have a massive presence online. One in three internet users is a child.” In April 2019, 
a news article has reported that “[t]he National Baseline Survey on Violence Against 
Children shows that nearly one in two Filipino children aged 13 to 17 experienced cyber 
violence.” These are alarming figures that should put both the State and our society on


notice with the imperative to increase protection to the most vulnerable members of 
our society -  the children.
This bill seeks to ensure that safety measures aimed at protecting children from 
harmful materials in the Internet are available by requiring commercial 
establishments, schools and other public institutions from which the Internet can be 
accessed to use devices and mechanisms that filter against inappropriate and harmful 
content, as well as shield our children against malevolent elements.
This bill further proposes the identification of websites that contain materials 
that are inappropriate or otherwise harmful to children by mandating that a “tag” 
created by the Department of Information and Communications Technology be 
displayed initially when such websites are accessed. As a means to strengthen the 
provisions of this proposed Act, penal sanctions will be meted out for violations of this 
measure.
Our children are the most vulnerable against exploitative acts and other 
Internet-based crimes. The shroud of anonymity that the Internet gives the 
perpetrators makes the danger to our children greater. These cybercrimes transcend 
jurisdictional boundaries, hence, it is even more imperative for us to establish 
safeguards for our youth when they use the Internet.
This bill was originally filed by Sen. Mar Roxas during the 14th Congress.
LEILA M. DE LIMA


EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
)
First Regular Session 
)
SENATE
ot lii; jS>.*<.r»tar|»
*19 JUL 18 P3 39
Introduced by SENATOR LEILA M. DE LIMA
AN ACr
REQUIRING COMMERCIAL ESTABLISHMENTS AND PUBLIC 
INSTITUTIONS TO USE APPROPRIATE FILTERING DEVICES AND 
FIREWALLS THAT WILL RESTRICT CHILDREN’S ACCESS TO 
HARMFUL MATERIALS, DEFINING FOR THAT PURI^OSE OFFENSES 
RELATED THERETO, PRESCRIBING PENALTIES THEREFOR AND FOR
OTHER PURPOSES
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress 
assembled.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
Section l. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the “Online Child Safety
Act.”
Sec. 2. Declaration of Policy. - Respecting the constitutionally enshrined right 
of every person to freedom of speech and expression, the State adopts a policy of 
maintaining a balance between non-interference with the use and access to the 
Internet and protecting the well-being of our children. Pursuant to this, the State shall 
ensure that the necessary safeguards against materials in the Internet that may be 
harmful to children are established.
Further, the State shall establish and implement measures that will limit and 
restrict the access of children to sexually explicit materials, graphic violence, 
information on drugs, alcohol and other injurious substances and all other materials 
harmful to children, at the same time ensuring their continued access to the Internet 
for research and other purposes.
The State further declares its policy to promote and protect the physical, moral, 
spiritual, intellectual and social well-being of children. In furtherance thereto, the


1 
state shall adopt a mechanism that will identify restricted websites, as well as require
2 
the use of effective filtering devices. In addition, the State shall give highest priority to
3 
the employment of strategies that promotes safe online activity for children, helps
4 
parents shield their children from inappropriate materials and seeks not only to
5 
prevent Internet-based child exploitation, but also to investigate and prosecute
6 
persons who provide access of exploitative materials to children.
7 
Sec. 3. Definition of Terms. -
8 
a. Child or Children - means any person below 18 years of age, or those over 18
9 
but unable to take care of themselves or protect themselves from abuse, neglect,
10 
exploitation or discrimination because of a physical or mental incapability or
11 
disability.
12 
b. Commercial Establishment - means any business offering Internet access or
13 
services for a fee or profit.
14 
c. Filtering Device - means any software installed in the computer or any program
15 
activated from the service provider or any other such device that can effectively
16 
block unwanted websites particularly those containing sexually explicit and/or
17 
violent materials.
18 
d. Internet - means the collective myriad of computer and telecommunications
19 
facilities, including equipment and operating software, which comprise the
20 
interconnected world-wide network of networks that employ the Transmission
21 
Control Protocol Internet Protocol, or any predecessor successor protocols to
22 
such protocol, to communicate information of all kinds by wire or radio.
23 
e. Internet Service Provider - means any company that provides Internet access
24 
for individuals, organizations and companies.
25 
f. Material Harmful to Children - means any communication, picture, image,
26 
graphic image file, article, recording, writing, or other matter of any kind that
27 
is obscene, or that a reasonable person would find
28 
1. taking the material as a whole and with respect to children, is designed to
29 
appeal to, or is designed to pander to, the prurient interest;
30 
2. depicts, describes, or represents, in a manner patently offensive with respect
31 
to children;


1 
(i) an actual or simulated sexual act or sexual contact;
2 
(ii) an actUcJ or simulated normal or perverted sexual act; or
3 
(iii) a lewd exhibition of the genitals or post-pubescent female breast.
4 
3. taking the material as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or
5 
scientific value for children; and
6 
4. taking the material as a whole, and is designed to entice children to the use
7 
of alcohol, drugs and other dangerous substances.
8 
g. Website - means any collection of material placed in a computer server-based
9 
file archive so that it is publicly accessible over the Internet using hypertext
10 
transfer protocol, or any successor protocol.
Sec. 4. Coverage. - The provisions of this Act shall be applicable to all
12 
commercial establishments granting access to Internet, with or without a fee, and to
13 
all other public institutions from which children can access the Internet.
14 
Sec. 5. Restricted Access to Harmful Materials. - All commercial
15 
establishments shall restrict access to materials harmful to children by offering filtered
16 
Internet service using end-user or PC-based filtering software or any such other
17 
filtering device to all Internet users defined as children under this Act.
18 
All other offices, companies, establishments or public institutions offering Internet
19 
services or access, such as but not limited to private or public schools, libraries,
20 
restaurants and internet cafes, shall likewise use such filtering device that it deems
21 
appropriate for the purpose of blocking webpages that contain materials harmful to
22 
children.
23 
Sec. 6. Prohibited Acts. - The following acts are hereby declared prohibited and
24 
unlawful:
25 
a. Operating a website primarily for commercial purposes knowingly, and with
26 
knowledge that it contains material that is harmful to children as defined in
27 
Section 3 (f) of this Act, except when:


1 
1, the home page, or any other page or screen that is initially viewable by a
2 
visitor to such website, does not include any material that is harmful to
3 
children;
4 
2. access to any such material is restricted to a specific set of individuals
5 
through an age verification requirement; and
5 
0, the source code of such website contains the content description tag
7 
assigned to such website by the 
Department of Information and
8 
Communications Technology (DICT).
9 
b. Operating a website containing any material harmful to children without
10 
displaying prominently the DICT tag on the home page or screen initially
11 
viewable by a visitor.
12 
Sec. 7. Duty to Report. - It is hereby mandatory for all Internet Service
13 
Providers, credit-card companies and banl<s, teachers, and duly-licensed commercial
14 
establishment owners to report suspected and actual operation of website containing
15 
materials harmful to children over the Internet, including but not limited to child
16 
pornography, sexually explicit and violent materials, without displaying the DICT tag
17 
as required under Section 6 of this Act to the Online Child Safety Council established
18 
under this Act, or to the nearest law enforcement office in the locality.
19 
Any person, having actual knowledge that a commercial establishment or a
20 
public institution from which children can access the Internet does not make use of
21 
the required filtering device, have the duty to immediately report the same to the
22 
Online Child Safety Council or to the nearest law enforcement office in the locality.
23 
Sec. 8. Penalties. -
24 
a. Any person, natural or juridical, found in violation of Section 5 hereof shall be
25 
punished with imprisonment of prision mayor and/ or a fine of not less than
26 
One Hundred Thousand Pesos (Pioo,ooo.oo) at the discretion of the court of
27 
proper jurisdiction.
28 
b. Any person, natural or juridical, found in violation of Section 6 hereof shall be
29 
punished with imprisonment of prision correctional and/or a fine of not less
30 
than Seventy Thousand Pesos (P70,ooo.oo), at the discretion of the court of
31 
proper jurisdiction.


1 
c. In addition to the above penalties, all permits and licenses given to the website
2 
operator, or to the commercial establishment shall be revoked. All properties
3 
and instrumentalities used in committing the acts in Sections 5 and 6 hereof, as
4 
well as all the proceeds therefrom, shall likewise be forfeited in favor of the
5 
government.
6 
d. In case the offender is a juridical person, the president, vice-president, and
7 
chairman of the board shall be liable for the penalty of imprisonment.
8 
e. All persons found to be non-compliant with the mandatory reportorial
9 
requirements set forth in Section 7 hereof shall be fined the amount of not less
10 
than Thirty Thousand Pesos.
11 
Sec. 9. Online Child Safety Council - There is hereby established an Online
12 
Child Safety Council under the Department of Social Welfare and Development as the
13 
primary agency responsible for the implementation of this Act. It shall be chaired by
14 
an Undersecretary of the DSWD and composed of duly designated representatives
15 
from the following departments:
16 
a. Department of Education;
17 
b. Department of Interior and Local Government;
18 
c. Council for the Welfare of Children;
19 
d. Department of Information and Communications Technology, and
20 
e. National Telecommunications Commission.
21 
Within ninety (90) days after the effectivity of this Act, the Council shall
22 
establish a Working Group, which will design and develop a common content
23 
description tag not later than one hundred twenty (120) days from the effectivity of
24 
this Act, that:
25 
1, will provide consumers with advance warning and information about the
26 
content of any website that contains material that is harmful to children, and
27 
2. will allow consumers, based on such tag, to block or filter access to, and display
28 
of, any website that contains material that is harmful to children; and is
29 
technologically capable of being embedded into the source code a website.
30 
Sec. 10. Functions of the Council. -
31 
1. Review and evaluate the status and effectivity of the implementation of this Act,


1 
2. Determine and approve the appropriate Internet filtering and blocking software
2 
that will effectively restrict.chiidren’s access to prohibited websites:
3 
3. Recommend measures that will further ensure safety of children in cyberspace
4 
which includes but not limited to educational campaigns, development of
5 
blocking and filtering software, labeling, or other technologies;
6 
4. Develop, as part of its Internet safety policy, a program for educating children
7 
about appropriate online behavior, including interacting with other individuals
8 
on social networking websites and in chat rooms;
9 
5. Conduct regular on-site inspections of commercial establishments and other
10 
institutions to monitor compliance with the provisions of this Act, and
11 
provisions of this Act; and
12 
6. Perform such other functions as may be necessary for the implementation of
13 
the Act.
14 
Sec. 11. Appropriations. — Such amounts as may be necessary to implement this
15 
Act shall be included in the next succeeding General Appropriations Act.
16 
Sec. 12. Separability Clause. Should any provision of this Act be declared
17 
invalid, the remaining provisions shall continue to be valid and subsisting.
18 
Sec. 13. Repealing Clause. All laws, executive orders, or administrative orders,
19 
rules and regulations or parts thereof, which are inconsistent with this Act are hereby
20 
amended, repealed or modified accordingly.
21 
Sec. 14. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
22 
publication in the 0_fficial Gazette or in two (2) newspapers of general circulation.
Approved,