Villanueva bill targets platforms in online safety push

SEN. Joel Villanueva filed Senate Bill (SB) 2071, seeking to regulate youth access to social media platforms and requiring digital media firms to be responsible in making the online environment safe for young users.

The senator on Wednesday sought a firm, but balanced approach to protecting young internet users, shifting the responsibility from users to the companies that run digital services.

He said it is "high time to place responsibility on the platform operators who design, manage and profit from digital services, rather than on the minors who use them."

He said SB 2071, or the proposed Safe Media Access and Responsible Technology for Kids in Digital Spaces (Smart Kids) Act, aims to establish a clear and enforceable framework that prioritizes the safety and well-being of children below 15 years old or those age-restricted users.

The measure mandates online media platform operators to prohibit age-restricted users from creating accounts.

SB 2071 establishes a system to detect, verify, suspend, deactivate, or remove prohibited accounts and periodically update mechanisms that prevent the circumvention of the law.

“As a parent, we want to make sure that the welfare and safety of our children remain a top priority, and this includes what they are exposed to on online media platforms,” Villanueva said.

"Rather than penalizing young users, their parents or legal guardians, the measure ensures that those who design, operate and profit from digital platforms are held accountable for maintaining a safe environment,” he said.

Villanueva said that the bill is anchored on “a simple but vital principle: those who shape the digital environment must also be responsible for making it safe.”

Online media platform operators are also required to establish and implement age-assurance mechanisms, content moderation, safety-by-design features, and continuous risk management processes.

For example, platforms must have parental or guardian controls, content filtering systems, interaction restrictions, and reasonable usage or time management tools.

They must also have a system to identify, limit, or disable addictive or engagement-driven features and algorithmic amplification that promotes prolonged or compulsive use.

The bill also mandates transparency obligations and strengthens protections on personal data, ensuring that compliance does not come at the expense of privacy or fundamental rights.

Violators would be fined up to P20 million.