House bill filed strengthening laws vs online child porn

MANILA, Philippines — Stronger anti-child pornography laws should be in place to better protect minors from exploitation amid the fast-evolving digital culture that comes with technological advancements, a lawmaker stressed over the weekend.

“We have to place measures to protect our children even from themselves. We have to act so that children are not forced to prostitute themselves because of their needs,” Rizal Rep. Fidel Nograles, author of House Bill 7633, said.

HB 7633, titled “Anti-Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children Act of 2020,” seeks to amend Section 9 of Republic Act 9775, the Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009.

Section 9 of the law allows internet service providers (ISP) to install software that could block access to and transmittal of child pornography and notify authorities within seven days of detection of any internet address that may contain child pornography.

The same provision, however, also states that “nothing in this section may be construed to require an ISP to engage in the monitoring of any user, subscriber or customer or the content of any communication of any such person.”

The country’s top telco operators like Smart and Globe have complained that this provision effectively hampers them from taking action, disabling them from monitoring and blocking child pornography websites.

Nograles filed the bill after the Department of Justice (DOJ) released a report revealing that cases of online child sex abuse had increased exponentially during the country’s COVID-19 community quarantines in 2020.

There have been persistent and widespread reports that students have been selling their sensual photos and videos in order to raise money to buy gadgets for distance learning classes.

If Nograles’ bill is passed, the first paragraphs of Section 9 would be amended to read as follows:

“Section 9. Duties of an Information and Communication Technology Service Provider. – All Information and Communication Technology Service Providers (ICTSP) shall install available technology, program or software to ensure that access to or transmittal of any form of child pornography will be blocked or filtered;

“All ICTSP shall notify the Philippine National Police or the National Bureau of Investigation within seven (7) days from obtaining facts and circumstances that any form of child pornography is being committed or has been committed using its server or facility or platform;

“All ICTSP shall maintain the privacy of the data captured relevant to this section while complying with notification requirements of this section. Provided, that no ISP shall be held civilly liable for damages on account of any notice given in good faith in compliance with this section. Provided further that the data captured solely for complying to this Section shall be exempt from the application of the Data Privacy Act.”

The measure also proposes that foreign nationals who have committed any sex-related offenses be barred from entering the Philippines.

Nograles urged the Department of Education to come up with more effective ways so children can cope with the demands of distance learning, saying “our children should not be left to fend for themselves.”

“We in government should bear the responsibility of finding solutions to ensure that the youth could continue their education,” the neophyte lawmaker said.