The Philippine Senate has approved on third and final reading a bill that would bar people under 18 from accessing or creating accounts on “high-risk” online platforms and require those services to adopt age-assurance measures to enforce the limit.
Senate Bill No. 2424, the proposed Safe Media Access and Responsible Technology for Kids in Digital Spaces (SMART KIDS) Act, passed with the support of 16 senators present. Senator Risa Hontiveros was the only member to vote against it.
Under the bill, high-risk digital services must ensure that no one under 18 can access or create an account, and must adopt and implement age-assurance measures to determine whether a user meets the minimum age. According to a Senate press release, the provisions do not cover email, private messaging services, online gaming services not primarily used for social networking, educational platforms, news services or professional collaboration services. Some platforms are already adjusting: Roblox has agreed to integrate PhilSys into its age and identity verification for Philippine users.
The Department of Information and Communications Technology would have to set up and maintain an accessible platform for the public to report suspected violations, with harmful content requiring immediate action escalated to the platforms concerned. Services found in violation would face fines of P5 million to P20 million per violation, plus P100,000 a day until they comply. Parents or guardians who knowingly help a child get around age-assurance mechanisms could be fined up to P50,000 and ordered to perform community service and attend digital parenting and child online safety programs.
The House of Representatives is moving in a different direction on age. On Tuesday, the House approved on second reading House Bill No. 11566, which would bar children under 13 from creating or maintaining social media accounts. The two chambers would need to reconcile their versions before any measure becomes law.
How ages would be checked is already under discussion. Government agencies have explored using the PhilSys national identity system to verify social media users’ ages.
In his sponsorship speech in August, Senator Robin Padilla cited national data showing that nearly half of children aged 13 to 17 had experienced cyberbullying, and a UNICEF U-Report survey of more than 1,200 young Filipinos in which more than 85 percent reported encountering unsafe online content or behavior.
Sources: GMA News
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
