Philippine House Approves Children's Digital Safety Bill on Second Reading
Key Takeaways
- •The House approved House Bill No. 11566 on second reading, moving it toward a third-reading vote, possible transmittal to the Senate, and ultimately requiring approval by both chambers and the President to become law.
- •The proposed law would prohibit children below 13 from creating or using social media accounts, while those aged 13 to below 17 could retain access subject to safeguards and parental consent.
- •Covered platforms would face new compliance duties, including 'safety by design' and 'safety by default' principles, age-ass systems, and minimized collection and retention of children's personal information.
- •The bill's restrictions may address harmful content, targeted advertising, behavioral profiling, contact with unknown adults, and features that encourage excessive or compulsive use.
- •Sponsor Rep. Roman Romulo argued that parental supervision remains important but cannot be the only safeguard, as parents cannot monitor every platform interaction, recommendation, and advertisement their children encounter.
The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved on second reading House Bill No. 11566, as amended, a measure setting safety standards and regulatory measures for social media and online gaming platforms to protect children from online risks.
Pasig Rep. Roman T. Romulo, the bill's sponsor, told the plenary that the measure seeks to shield minors from cyberbullying, grooming, sexual exploitation, harmful content, inappropriate advertising, privacy violations, and unsafe online interactions. He said children should be able to benefit from technology while being protected from risks they may not yet be equipped to navigate.
"The question before us is whether the digital environment in which grow up provides adequate safeguards for their safety, development, and well-being," he said.
Under the proposed law, children below 13 years old would be barred from creating, registering, maintaining, or using social media accounts. Those aged 13 to below 18 could still access social media, subject to restrictions, appropriate safeguards, and parental consent.
The restrictions may cover harmful or prohibited content, targeted advertising, behavioral profiling, unsafe communications, particularly interactions with unknown adults, and features that could encourage excessive or compulsive use.
The measure would also require covered platforms to adopt "safety by design" and "safety by default" principles, ensuring child safety and privacy protections are built into digital services. It would further establish age-assurance mechanisms and require platforms to minimize the collection and retention of children's personal information. If enacted, those requirements would place new compliance obligations on the social media and online gaming services covered by the bill, spanning age assurance and limits on children's data. Similar minimum-age approaches have advanced elsewhere, with Australia enacting a law in 2024 that sets 16 as the minimum age for social media accounts.
Mr. Romulo said parental supervision remains important but should not be the sole responsibility for children's online safety.
"Parents cannot be expected to continuously monitor every interaction, every recommendation, every advertisement, and every feature presented to their children by digital platforms," he said.
Approved on second reading, the bill now moves toward a third-reading vote in the House, where members cast individual votes, before any transmittal to the Senate; a final version would need approval from both chambers and the President's signature to become law.
Source: BusinessWorld Online — Pexcel John Bacon
