Childrens Safety in Social Media Act

Dit:t: oftl TWENTIETH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES ) 25 JUL 15 All :08 First Regular Session RECEIVED&: SENATE S. No. _ Introduced by Senator Robinhood Padilla AN ACT REGULATING CHILDREN'S USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA TOWARDS PROMOTING THEIR SAFETY, WELL-BEING, AND RESPONSIBLE DIGITAL USAGE EXPLANATORY NOTE It has been observed that children up to eight years of age spend an average of 15 minutes a day using mobile devices for entertainment purposes such as watch videos, play games, or even engage in social media. The Foundation for Media Alternatives reports that social media serves as the internet to the majority of Filipino online users, and that the Philippines has the highest penetration of social networking among internet users at 83% compared to the global average of 58%.2 The pervasive use of social media in the Philippines has greatly affected Filipinos' conception of desirable living conditions, socially accepted behavior, and even reality. Children, being in the developmental stages of their young lives, are highly impressionable and as such, require special protection from non-age appropriate, if not outright harmful or immoral, influences that they may encounter from their leisurely use of social media. Despite the pervasiveness of social media, there is no specific law that regulates the same. Meanwhile, countries such as the United States of America and Australia ' Kids and modern technology. (2017, May 2). Philstar.com. https://www.philstar.com/the- freeman/cebu-lifestyle/2017/05/03/1690384/kids-and-modern-technology 2 Foundation for Media Alternatives. (2018, October 16). Social Media and Privacy: The Philippine Experience - Foundation for Media Alternatives. https://fma.ph/resources/resources-gender-ict/social- media-and-privacy-the-philippine-experience/#_ftn1

have passed laws that regulate children's use of social media, and ASEAN countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia have expressed plans to pass similar measures. While remaining cognizant of the people's Constitutional rights to information and freedom of expression, this measure seeks to make social media platforms a safe learning and socialization forum for children by establishing regulatory requirements that social media platforms must abide by and providing penalties for non-compliance. In view of the foregoing, the passage of this bill is earnestly sought. ярей ROBINHOOD PADILLI senato

: Dilip ofte TWENTIETH CONGRESS OF THE 25 JUL 15 A11:09 REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES First Regular Session RECEIVED 8: SENATE S. No. - Introduced by Senator Robinhood Padilla AN ACT REGULATING CHILDREN'S USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA TOWARDS PROMOTING THEIR SAFETY, WELL-BEING, AND RESPONSIBLE DIGITAL USAGE Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:

Section 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the "Children's Safety in

Social Media Act."

Sec. 2. Declaration of Policy. - The State recognizes the vital role of children

and youth in nation building and shall promote and protect their physical, moral, 5 spiritual, intellectual, and social well-being. As such, it is hereby declared the policy of 6 the State to regulate children's use of social media, with utmost consideration for their 7 fundamental right to age- and developmentally-appropriate information, privacy and 8 confidentiality of personal information, and freedom of expression.

Sec. 3. Definition of Terms. - The following terms as used in this Act shall be

defined as follows: a. Account holder shall refer to a person who has an account or profile to use a social media platform; b. Algorithms shall refer to a defined set of rules or instructions, usually executed by a computer system to accomplish a specific task, or solve a particular problem; C. Child shall refer to a person who is below eighteen (18) years of age; d. Content shall refer to text, images, and videos, excluding materials specifically designed for interactive gaming or educational entertainment purposes;

e. Guardians shall refer to legal guardians, and other persons, including relatives with physical custody of the child, and those exercising special or substitute parental authority over the child; f. Parents shall refer to biological parents, step-parents, adoptive parents and the common-law spouse or partner of the parent; g. Personal data shall refer to information that identifies or is linked or reasonably linkable to a particular child; h. Personalized recommendation system shall refer to fully or partially automated system used to suggest, promote, or rank information based on the personal data of users; i. Social media platform shall refer to any internet-based service, network, application, website, or computer program which is primarily intended for personal and group social interaction and information sharing of user-generated content that is used, or is reasonably likely to be used, by a child; and j. Targeted advertising shall refer to the act of displaying advertisement to an individual to predict the individual's preferences and interests.

Sec. 4. Regulation. - Social media platforms (SMPs) identified by the

Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to be accessible in the Philippines, and are used, or reasonably likely to be used, by a child shall be subjected to the following conditions: a. SMPs shall establish age verification protocols: Provided, That any personal data collected for this purpose shall be encrypted, securely stored, and used solely for the purposes of this Act, in full compliance with Republic Act No. 10173 or the Data Privacy Act; b. Child account holders shall first be required to undergo parental consent verification: Provided, That the same consent shall be required from existing account holders at the time of the passage of this Act to be allowed continued access thereto; c. SMPs shall provide adequate and efficient notification and control mechanisms to enable parents, or in the absence of the latter, the guardian/s of a child, to perform acts such as, but not limited to:

i. Supervise the child's account and allow the same to view the account's privacy settings; ii. Set daily time restrictions lower than the time limit to be fixed pursuant to subsection (e)(ii) of this Section, and implement breaks during which the child cannot access the account; and iii. Revoke consent for a child to continue to be an account holder; d. SMPs shall establish limitations and restrictions on the use of, and allowed interactions with the account of a child; e. SMPs shall employ algorithms that: i. Limit features that increase, sustain, or extend the use of the SMP by the child, such as automatic playing of media, rewards system for time spent on the platform, notifications, and other features that result in compulsive usage of the SMP by the child; ii. Track and limit the amount of time spent by the child on the SMP through features such as natural stopping points, fixed usage time limit, among others; iii. Control personalized recommendation systems and targeted advertising systems to ensure that recommendations or advertisements that may be accessed by a child are age- and developmentally-appropriate: Provided, That the child shall have the option to opt out of, or limit the types or categories of such recommendations and advertisements; iv. Restrict the access to, and sharing of the geolocation of the child; V. Restrict the purchases and financial transactions by the child, where applicable; and VI. Disable the redirection of links to external websites; f. SMPs shall develop a readily accessible and easy-to-use reporting mechanism to address issues and concerns regarding a child's use of the SMP.

Sec. 5. Monitoring and Enforcement. - It shall be the obligation of the DICT to:

a. Ensure and protect the rights of children in matters relating to information communications technology (ICT) by adopting a monitoring and reporting mechanism to track violations of this Act; b. Notify the MPs and provide details on violations identified in its monitoring efforts or complaints received from third persons with a request for take down or cancellation of account within thirty days upon receipt of notice: Provided, That it shall be the duty of the SMP concerned to notify the allegedly prohibited account owned by a child and provide an opportunity to challenge the same within a given span of time: Provided, further, That the SMP concerned shall submit a report to DICT on the steps it took to comply with the request for take down or cancellation of account; and c. Issue a disabling order in the event of failure or refusal on the part of the SMP to act upon the request for take down or cancellation of accounts registered by children.

Sec. 6. Restricting Access or Blocking Access to Prohibited Accounts Belonging

17 to Children. - When a registered account or page on any social media platform is 18 prima facie found to be in violation of the provisions of this Act, the DICT shall issue 19 a disabling order to restrict or block access to such account or page and shall notify the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to monitor compliance thereto.

Sec. 7. Duty of Service Providers. - Service providers shall comply with the

disabling orders within forty-eight (48) hours of the issuance of the disabling order 23 and must disable the pages bearing said accounts of children prohibited under this 24 Act by implementing an effective technical measure to disable or prevent access thereto which may include: a. Blocking domain names that provide access to the prohibited pages/accounts (DNS blocking); b. Blocking URLs that provide access to the prohibited pages/accounts; c. Blocking of IP addresses that provide access to the pages/accounts; and d. Blocking other similar means.

Sec. 8. Penalties. - SMPs that refuse to act upon requests to take down

prohibited accounts of children shall be liable to pay a fine of One Hundred Thousand Pesos (P100,000.00) for each violation thereof. SMPs found non-compliant with Section 4 of this Act despite prior and proper notice shall, upon recommendation by the DICT, be banned temporarily until full compliance, or perpetually from operating in the Philippines.

Sec. 9. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - The DICT, in consultation with

the Department of Justice, Department of Health, Department of Education, other appropriate government agencies, and other stakeholders, shall issue the necessary rules and regulations to implement the provisions herein within ninety (90) days from the effectivity of this Act.

Sec. 10. Separability Clause. - If any provision or part hereof is held invalid or

unconstitutional, the remaining provisions not affected thereby shall remain valid and subsisting.

Sec. 11. Repealing Clause. - Any law, presidential decree or issuance, executive

order, letter of instruction, administrative order, rule or regulation contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act is hereby repealed, modified or amended accordingly.

Sec. 12. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its

publication in the Official Gazette or in any two (2) newspapers of general circulation in the Philippines. Approved,