PLDT, Smart block over 1 million malicious links until March 2024

The telcos have expressed commitment to help the government in fighting online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (OSAEC).

File photo: PLDT, Smart logos

Protecting children online

In line with efforts to protect children from abuses online, PLDT and Smart said they have blocked more than 1 million URLs and online content linked to OSAEC. They have also blocked over 5.6 million end-user attempts to access child abuse sites since November 2021.

Recently, President Bongbong Marcos gave a directive to intensify measures against online abuses.

We laud the President for raising the alarm and reinforcing the urgency of solutions against OSAEC. PLDT and Smart remain committed to working with the government and supporting multi-sectoral efforts to curb this crime and making the digital environment safer for our children, said PLDT and Smart President and CEO Manuel Pangilinan.

PLDT and Smart said part of its efforts is the Child Protection Platform that enables the detection and blocking of child sexual abuse and exploitation materials (CSAEM) on the domain and content level without violating data privacy laws. They said they also work with global organizations to source intelligence on CSAEM, including UK-based charity Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) and the Canadian Centre for Children Protection for its Project Arachnid.

The companies said they also work with the IWF to explore new strategies and keep abreast of emerging trends surrounding OSAEC, including the rise of self-generated CSAEM and the growing use of Artificial Intelligence to exploit children online.

Both telcos said they earlier worked with both houses of Congress and with the Department of Justice in the development of the legislation against OSAEC, the Republic Act 11930 or, the Anti-OSAEC and Anti-CSAEM Law.

To help combat OSAEC at the grassroots, the PLDT group said they are utilizing technology and capacity-building efforts of the barangay council for the Protection of Children units in Cagayan de Oro, Iligan, Quezon City, and Angeles City, Pampanga, through a multi-year program with the youth organization Kids for Kids PH and the SaferKidsPH consortium of UNICEF, Save the Children, and the Asia Foundation.

The companies said they also backed the Scale of Harm study by the International Justice Mission and the University of Nottingham Rights Lab, which aimed to estimate prethe valence of OSAEC in the Philippines and revealed that nearly 500,000 Filipino children have been trafficked to produce new CSAEM in 2022 alone.

PLDT and Smart also enable technology for the Makabata Helpline 1383 of the Council for the Welfare of Children. This provides the public with a channel to report cases of abuses and violations of child rights, including OSAEC.

We aim to continue forging partnerships and participating in constant dialogues with our national and local government agencies, and with local and global civil society organizations to stay updated and keep enhancing our capability to protect children online, said PLDT and Smart Chief Sustainability Officer Melissa Vergel de Dios.

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