Arya News - Senate Bill (SB) No. 2424, or the Child Online Safety and Protection Act, seeks to protect children from physical, mental, and social harms posed by social media platforms.
MANILA – The Senate moved closer to passing a bill that restricts those under 18 years old from using social media after approving it on second reading on Wednesday night.
Sponsored by Sen. Robinhood Padilla, Senate Bill (SB) No. 2424, or the Child Online Safety and Protection Act, seeks to protect children from physical, mental, and social harms posed by social media platforms.
It defines age-restricted social media platforms as any electronic service that primarily facilitates online social interactions and permits users to publish content accessible to other users.
Under SB 2424, these platforms will be required to ensure that no person under 18 can access or create an account. They must also establish systems that can accurately verify users’ ages and provide parental safety tools for age-restricted users.
In addition, social media platforms operating internationally will be required to comply with the bill once it becomes a law, designate a representative in the Philippines, and work with local authorities to implement it.
SB 2424 does not cover emailing platforms, private messaging services, and online gaming that are not primarily used for social networking, educational platforms, news services, and professional collaboration tools.
DICT functions
Should the bill be signed into law, implementation will be subject to the oversight of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).
Its functions shall include assessment of compliance, reporting mechanisms, investigations, imposition of fines, and updating of age assurance standards.
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The bill also gives the DICT authority to seek to restrict access to digital services that do not apply the minimum age requirement and age verification mechanisms, and fail to respond to harmful content.
Higher fines are applied to digital services and the DICT. Errant digital services may face a fine ranging from P5 million to P20 million per violation, on top of another fine of P100,000 for each day of failing to comply with the law.
On the other hand, the DICT may face administrative penalties of less than P5 million to as high as P20 million for each violation.
The House version seeks a full social media ban for children under 13, while restrictions are sought for those from 13 to 18 years old.