Social media platforms and messaging services should have stronger obligations to prevent the online sexual abuse or exploitation of children, an official said, as the Philippine government strengthens its resolve to protect children from this.
Barbara Mae Flores, the officer-in-charge executive director of the National Coordinating Center against Anti-Online Sexual Abuse or Exploitation of Children (OSAEC) and Anti-Child Sexual Abuse or Exploitation Materials (CSAEM), said protecting children from digital abuse is not just the duty of the government — it is also the responsibility of technology companies as well.
This is one of the salient provisions of the Expanded Anti-OSAEC and Anti-CSAEM Act that was recently filed in Congress, Flores said.
“Hindi pwede ‘yung burden ay nasa gobyerno lang o nasa user lang. Kung ang kanilang platforms ay ginagamit para mag-abuso, para magpakalat ng child sexual abuse or exploitation materials … dapat may kaakibat din silang obligasyon o duty na mag-detect, mag-preserve ng ebidensya, mag-report, at mag-take down,” Flores said in a public briefing.
Flores said their national coordinating center is strengthening the role of financial institutions and other service providers that could be used for the cases of OSAEC and CSAEM.
“Alam naman natin na ang krimen na ito. One of its main drivers is economic, monetary. Kung may bayad, may mechanism para ma-detect din nila, ma-flag or ma-hold ang financial transaction if related sa OSAEC o CSAEM activity,” she added.
The official said the law mandates that there should be a “unified referral pathway.”
This means that it should be clear to the public where to report these incidents.
The national coordinating center, she added, is also strengthening the cross-border information sharing to prevent OSAEC or CSAEM activities.
“Since mostly online ito, mabilis din ang information-sharing natin across borders. Hindi lang domestically but also across borders,” said the official.
“Ito ‘yung tinatawag na mutual legal assistance. May mga impormasyon na pwede nating ibahagi o i-share sa ating foreign counterparts as evidence kahit hindi pa siya makadaan ng tinatawag nating mutual legal assistance,” she said.
In November 2025, the Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC) reminded local government units to have ordinances that would protect children from online sexual abuse, saying there are laws and policies that mandate localities to be child-friendly.
CWC had said that in 2022, only 372 out of 1,634 local government units were considered child-friendly.
But in 2025, the CWC said the figure rose to 1,091, admitting that the country still has a “long way to go.”
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund, two million children in the Philippines were subjected to online sexual abuse and exploitation in 2021. (ABS-CBN News)