House approves bill restricting minors' social media access in PH

MANILA, Oct 12 (Reuters) - The Philippines on Monday moved a step closer to restricting social media use among minors after its lower house of Congress approved a measure banning access to platforms for children under 13.

The Philippines is the latest country, from Greece and Portugal to Australia, Malaysia and Indonesia, to try to curb social media use by minors, as concern grows over its effects on child health and safety.

The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly in favour of limiting minors' access to social media platforms, following on from the Senate's recent endorsement of a similar bill.

The two chambers will now be required to reconcile their bills then submit a final draft for presidential approval.

The progress of the legislation comes after three school shootings since June in the Philippines that reignited debate over children accessing social media and online content.

A 16-year-old last month shot dead at least two fellow students before turning the gun on himself, while in August, a ⁠student live-streamed himself shooting and killing a classmate before taking his own life.

Gun violence at schools was previously rare in the Philippines.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said on Sunday he had been studying the bill passed by the Senate and that a blanket ban on social media could cause children to hide their online activities, leaving them vulnerable to grooming and abuse.

The Senate's version is stricter than the draft approved by the lower house and bans anyone under 18 from creating social media accounts.

TikTok, YouTube owner Alphabet GOOGL.O, and Meta Platforms META.O, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, did not immediately respond to separate requests for comment on the Philippines house passing the bill.

Neighbouring Malaysia in June began barring under-16s from registering accounts on social media platforms, which are required to conduct age verification against government-issued records.

Malaysia has given social platforms until January 2027 to implement the measure.

Indonesia issued a regulation in March requiring social media firms with platforms it deems high risk to deactivate accounts belonging to children under 16, which have so far included X, Instagram and video game platform Roblox.

As of last week, TikTok has deactivated around 9 million accounts belonging to children under 16 in Indonesia, while Meta has blocked 85,000 Instagram accounts and 99,000 Facebook accounts.

-Nestor Corrales and Mikhail Flores; Additional reporting by Rozanna Latif in Kuala Lumpur and Stanley Widianto in Jakarta; Editing by Martin Petty/Reuters