MANILA, Philippines — Telecommunications giants PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc. and fiber broadband provider Converge ICT Solutions Inc. have committed to pursue the fight against online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (OSAEC) in the country as the world observed Safer Internet Day yesterday.
PLDT and its wireless subsidiary Smart Communications Inc. joined hands with the Department of Justice-Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking, Philippine National Police-Woman and Children Protection Center (PNP-WCPC), International Justice Mission (IJM) and TikTok to urge the public to take a stand against the livestreamed sexual abuse and exploitation of children.
The campaign, dubbed #NotOnOurScreens, aims to cultivate a culture of vigilance against the trafficking of Filipino children through the creation and propagation of child sexual exploitation material.
“PLDT and Smart support the IJM and the Philippine government in their efforts to continuously broaden the coalition against online sexual exploitation of Filipino children,” PLDT and Smart first vice president and group head for corporate communications Cathy Yap-Yang said.
With cases soaring during the COVID-19 pandemic, Yang said the PLDT group was able to block access to over 179,000 URLs linked to online child abuse through its network-embedded child protection platform as of the end of January.
“Driven by our pioneering Child Safeguarding Policy, we have also rolled out child online safety education to over 37,000 stakeholders and implemented capacity-building interventions for barangay councils for the protection of children in most affected areas,” she added.
Meanwhile, Globe vowed to continue efforts to provide a platform for collaboration among key stakeholders to fight OSAEC.
Together with partners from United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Philippines and the SaferKidsPH Consortium, Internet Watch Foundation, CitizenWatch and Bantay Konsyumer, Kalsada, Kuryente, Globe yesterday reiterated the importance of holistic cooperation among the public and private sectors, international and civil society organizations and digital citizens in fighting online abuse and child sexual exploitation.
“As a digital solutions group, Globe recognizes the need for children to be safe online. We celebrate Safer Internet Day with the intention of raising awareness and educating consumers about the continued rise of OSAEC in the Philippines, and what we can do to protect our children from further risks of online violence and exploitation,” Globe chief sustainability officer and SVP for corporate communications Yoly Crisanto said.
Crisanto disclosed that Globe has invested more than $2.7 million for content filtering systems that block websites and online imagery that promote child ****ography and piracy.
A study by the US-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children showed that the Philippines is among the world’s top producers of content involving child sexual abuse.
Reports of online child exploitation have risen during the pandemic, as struggling families resorted to producing illicit content using children to earn money quickly to make ends meet. – Evelyn Macairan, Romina Cabrera
FROM: BUSINESSWORLD
PLDT and its wireless subsidiary Smart Communications Inc. joined hands with the Department of Justice-Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking, Philippine National Police-Woman and Children Protection Center (PNP-WCPC), International Justice Mission (IJM) and TikTok to urge the public to take a stand against the livestreamed sexual abuse and exploitation of children.
The campaign, dubbed #NotOnOurScreens, aims to cultivate a culture of vigilance against the trafficking of Filipino children through the creation and propagation of child sexual exploitation material.
“PLDT and Smart support the IJM and the Philippine government in their efforts to continuously broaden the coalition against online sexual exploitation of Filipino children,” PLDT and Smart first vice president and group head for corporate communications Cathy Yap-Yang said.
With cases soaring during the COVID-19 pandemic, Yang said the PLDT group was able to block access to over 179,000 URLs linked to online child abuse through its network-embedded child protection platform as of the end of January.
“Driven by our pioneering Child Safeguarding Policy, we have also rolled out child online safety education to over 37,000 stakeholders and implemented capacity-building interventions for barangay councils for the protection of children in most affected areas,” she added.
Meanwhile, Globe vowed to continue efforts to provide a platform for collaboration among key stakeholders to fight OSAEC.
Together with partners from United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Philippines and the SaferKidsPH Consortium, Internet Watch Foundation, CitizenWatch and Bantay Konsyumer, Kalsada, Kuryente, Globe yesterday reiterated the importance of holistic cooperation among the public and private sectors, international and civil society organizations and digital citizens in fighting online abuse and child sexual exploitation.
“As a digital solutions group, Globe recognizes the need for children to be safe online. We celebrate Safer Internet Day with the intention of raising awareness and educating consumers about the continued rise of OSAEC in the Philippines, and what we can do to protect our children from further risks of online violence and exploitation,” Globe chief sustainability officer and SVP for corporate communications Yoly Crisanto said.
Crisanto disclosed that Globe has invested more than $2.7 million for content filtering systems that block websites and online imagery that promote child ****ography and piracy.
A study by the US-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children showed that the Philippines is among the world’s top producers of content involving child sexual abuse.
Reports of online child exploitation have risen during the pandemic, as struggling families resorted to producing illicit content using children to earn money quickly to make ends meet. – Evelyn Macairan, Romina Cabrera
FROM: BUSINESSWORLD