Children face growing dangers online as criminals and harmful groups use social media, messaging apps, and other digital platforms to reach them. These threats are becoming harder to stop because they can come from people and networks anywhere in the world.
Government agencies, police, telecommunications companies, schools, online platforms, content creators, and parents are now being urged to work together to protect Filipino children.
The issue was discussed during “Protecting Children in the Digital Age: A Multi-Stakeholder Forum on Online Violence, Child Exploitation and Digital Safety,” led by PROTECTA Pilipinas.
Spearheaded by PLDT, PROTECTA Pilipinas is a multi-stakeholder alliance that brings together government, industry, and communities to strengthen cyber resilience, protect critical infrastructure, and promote a safer digital environment for Filipinos.
Online dangers are no longer limited to sexual abuse and exploitation. Children may also face bullying, blackmail, grooming, harmful content, and groups that encourage self-harm or violence. Grooming happens when someone gains a child’s trust online before manipulating or abusing them.
“The nature of online harm has undergone a dangerous shift,” said Lt. Col. Ayn Natuel of the PNP Women and Children Protection Center. “We are no longer dealing solely with isolated bad actors. We are confronting borderless, highly networked online subcultures that intentionally harm, groom, blackmail, and coerce vulnerable young people into committing acts of self-harm and physical violence. These malicious networks exploit the very features designed to connect us.”
Participants said laws and safety measures must keep up with the changing ways people use technology. Current laws have helped authorities act against the online sexual abuse and exploitation of children, but newer threats may require stronger rules, better tools for police, and faster cooperation among agencies and companies.
Online platforms must also improve their safety features and remove harmful content more quickly. Content creators should manage their online communities responsibly, while parents need to stay involved in what their children do and see online.
“Children should not be expected to protect themselves from online risks on their own,” said Undersecretary Angelo Tapales of the Council for the Welfare of Children. “Their voices and experiences must be part of developing solutions, but as adults, we should carry that weight, that responsibility of protecting children. Children should not have to choose between being connected and being safe.”
Children who experience family problems, bullying, loneliness, trauma, or mental health difficulties may be more open to strangers and harmful groups online. This means safety tools alone are not enough. Children also need guidance, education, mental health support, and trusted adults who will listen to them.
“No single actor can secure our digital ecosystem alone. Protecting Filipino children online will take government, industry, civil society and communities working as one alliance,” said Atty. Roy D. Ibay, VP at Smart and head of Regulatory Affairs and lead convenor of PROTECTA.
“We’re not talking about numbers here, that it’s got to be a million kids before we do something,” said Butch Jimenez, COO, PLDT. “Two million kids. No. One kid, that’s good enough. Telcos are not here to play God. We’re here to protect the kids.”