A BILL that seeks to penalize social media platforms that fail to comply with mandatory child online safety standards, including age verification, parental controls, and safeguards against harmful content, has been filed at the House of Representatives.
House Bill 9965, or the Children’s Social Media Safety Act, was filed by Speaker Faustino Dy III and Majority Leader Rep. Ferdinand Alexander Marcos.
Under the measure, social media platforms would be fined up to P50 million if they violate the law.
The bill allows the government to temporarily restrict access to social media platforms in the Philippines or prohibit them from operating in the country in cases of repeated and serious violations, subject to due process.
The measure would prohibit children below 13 years old from creating, maintaining, or using social media accounts.
The bill aims to establish the country’s first comprehensive regulatory framework governing children’s access to and use of social media platforms and promote responsible, age-appropriate digital engagement through stronger safeguards, greater platform accountability, enhanced parental supervision and digital literacy.
“In the digital age, this duty extends to ensuring that children are protected from risks arising from the use of social media and other digital platforms. At its core, this bill recognizes that every child deserves a safe environment to grow, learn and develop free from harm both in the physical and digital world,” the lawmakers said in the bill’s explanatory note.
The bill will mandate social media platforms to implement reliable age verification systems, immediately disable prohibited accounts upon discovery, and adopt safeguards to prevent children from repeatedly creating new accounts to evade the prohibition.
