The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed on second reading a bill prohibiting children aged 13 and below from creating social media accounts while restricting access for those under 18.
The measure aligns the Philippines alongside a global shift enacting digital guardrails to shield minors from online harms.
Lawmakers approved House Bill No. 11566 by voice vote.
The bill, known as the Safe and Friendly Environment for Kids in Digital Spaces Act, consolidates over 40 legislative proposals seeking to enforce tighter oversight over minor social media usage.
The legislative piece comes after a push by authorities for digital content restrictions following a spate of school shootings and stabbings by students.
In approving the bill, lawmakers are seeking to mitigate violence they feel were driven by online content.
‘We recognize that while children have the right to benefit from technology, they must be protected from the risks that technology may expose them to,’ Pasig Rep. Roman Romulo, who sponsored the bill, told the House floor.
‘Digital platforms provide opportunities for education, creativity, self-expression and connection,’ he said.
‘However, these same platforms may expose children to cyberbullying, grooming, sexual exploitation, harmful content, inappropriate advertising, privacy violations and forms of online interaction that they may not yet be equipped to navigate safely,’ he told fellow lawmakers.
Under the proposal, children aged 13 below are outright banned from social media.
On the other hand, it gives limited access to teenagers under 18, who would be shielded from harmful ads, livestreaming and algorithmic short video feeds that encourage doom-scrolling.
Teens under 18 are also barred from making online purchases and engaging with ‘gambling-like mechanisms.’
They are also prohibited from involving themselves with other features that may pose ‘reasonably foreseeable and material risks’ to well-being and development.
Romulo said the distinction between those aged 13 below and teens under 18 ‘is deliberate.’
‘Younger children require a clear minimum age boundary, while adolescents require a framework that recognizes their growing capacity for independence without disregarding the risks to which they remain exposed,’ he said.
The bill also mandates the establishment of an Office for Children’s Social Media and Digital Safety.
This unit will be under the Department of Information and Communications Technology and its mandate is to serve as the chief regulatory body enforcing the bill’s youth protection objectives.
Social media platforms will also be required to develop their own age identification system for its users that meet the standards set by the proposed regulatory office.
Social networks ‘shall be responsible for the effectiveness of their respective age assurance systems,’ with its users required to undergo age verification twice a year.
Platforms must also prohibit minors from chatting with ‘unknown adults,’ while also preventing teens from accessing artificial intelligence features embedded within social media sites.
Social media platforms face fines of up to P5 million for failing to comply with the ‘child-safety’ provisions sought under the bill, and a maximum P20 million fine for repeated noncompliance.