PH Senate passes bill limiting minors’ access to high-risk online platforms

The Senate has approved on third and final reading a measure that would bar minors from accessing digital services deemed high-risk to children and require platforms to implement age-verification safeguards.

Senate Bill No. 2424, or the “Safe Media Access and Responsible Technology for Kids in Digital Spaces (SMART KIDS) Act,” was approved 16-1 with no abstention during Thursday’s plenary session.

The measure, sponsored by Senator Robinhood Padilla, seeks to establish a system for identifying digital services that could expose children to online risks while requiring parents, guardians and service providers to take steps to protect minors.

Under the bill, high-risk digital services would be required to suspend, restrict, disable or remove accounts reasonably determined to belong to minors.

These platforms would also have to prevent individuals below 18 years old from creating or accessing accounts and implement age-assurance measures to verify whether users meet the minimum age requirement.

The restrictions would not apply to electronic mail, private messaging, online gaming services that are not primarily intended for social networking, educational platforms, news services and professional collaboration services.

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) would oversee implementation of the proposed safeguards if the measure becomes law.

The DICT would also be required to maintain an accessible platform where the public can report suspected violations. Reports involving harmful content that require immediate intervention would be subject to expedited referral or escalation to the concerned digital service providers.

Digital services found violating the measure could face fines ranging from P5 million to P20 million for each violation, as well as an additional P100,000 fine for every day of continued noncompliance.

Parents or legal guardians who knowingly help minors circumvent age-assurance mechanisms could also face a fine of up to P50,000, community service, and mandatory participation in digital parenting and child safety programs. -Paraluman News