MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte and his Cabinet have ordered sanctions against internet service providers for their “failure to stop online child pornography” in the country.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said the doubling of online child pornography in the Philippines, particularly during the coronavirus pandemic, is a “cause of concern.”
Transaction reports related to online sexual exploitation increased to 47,937 in 2020 from 19,000 in 2019, when the Philippines was placed under varying degrees of quarantine restrictions.
The median age of those involved in transactions is 11.
“Hindi hahayaan ng gobyerno na madagdagan pa ang biktima ng sexual exploitation sa gitna ng kinakaharap nating pandemya,” Nograles said in a virtual presser on Tuesday.
Nograles added that the Cabinet has tasked the National Telecommunications Commission to impose sanctions on internet service providers for “failure to fulfill their duty” under Republic Act 9775 or the Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009.
These duties include immediately notifying lawmakers within a week upon knowing that their services were being used for child pornography, providing authorities with details on users involved in the scheme, and intercepting or immediately blocking access to the materials.
Lawmakers were also urged to prioritize passage of bills that would exempt trafficking in persons from the Anti-Wiretapping Law.
They were also told to broaden membership of the inter-agency council on child pornography, and strengthen the body with additional plantilla positions and funding.
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian earlier raised concerns over a report by news portal Philippine Online Student Tambayan, which revealed that students held an online “Christmas sale” of their “sensual” photos and videos to earn money to support online schooling./PN
