Dominant carrier PLDT is seeking to further strengthen its efforts against online child abuse through a new platform designed to protect families from online threats, particularly online child pornography.
PLDT made the announcement as the world celebrated “Safe Internet Day” on Tuesday, February 9.
In a virtual media round table, Cathy Yang, group head for corporate communications of PLDT and Smart, said the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic is also becoming a big factor as more and more children go online, which in turn, could attract offenders.
Yang said Covid-19 is compelling more children to go online for their studies as face-to-face teaching is still limited in the Philippines.
The executive cited a 2017 study that said that the Philippines is the top source of online child pornography. What is alarming is that this may continue during the pandemic and due to the ongoing poverty, affecting millions of Filipino families.
She further cited that there has been a 274% increase in incidents of child pornography.
Child pornography is but one of the slew of abuses against children, now collectively called online sexual exploitation and abuse of children or “OSEAC.”
OSEAC is often described as the “worst form of violence” committed against children.
PLDT, meanwhile, said it is committed to continue its efforts to combat OSEAC in the Philippines. It currently has several programs including “CyberSmart,” “IRL (in real life)” and “InfoTeach” which are awareness-raising programs for families.
However, PLDT also has an arsenal of tools against OSEAC, according to Angel Redoble, chief information security officer of the PLDT Group.
Redoble said PLDT currently has a “live” command center called the cybersecurity operations group which is focused on tackling OSEAC and other threats.
Redoble said the cybersecurity operations group is tasked to combat hackers and offenders. It is aimed at protecting the assets of PLDT and customers against all types of threats, the executive said.
Redoble said the OSEAC problem “escalated with the pandemic.” The number of children going online is at its highest level, and incidents also rose to the highest level, Redoble said.
The executive said part of PLDT’s efforts include predicting threats, as well as improving the blocking of websites and even offensive content that is often uploaded to “good” or legitimate domain or websites.
He disclosed that in the third quarter of last year, PLDT was able to “craft capabilities” to fight OSEAC through partnerships with global organizations such as the Internet Society Foundation.
He noted that these “capabilities” are not technology or vendor based. PLDT is also eyeing to join the Internet Watch Foundation, Redoble said. The Internet Watch Foundation is to safeguard the internet against child sexual abuse online.
Ace Acedillo, chief strategy officer of PLDT Group, said the carrier also already blocked some 3,000 websites linked to sexual abuse and the number is expected to increase.
Acedillo said blocking websites could be a “sensitive” matter due to privacy laws in the Philippines, but PLDT is working with regulators and lawmakers to further improve the legal framework for cybersecurity issues.
The executive said there is no “good Samaritan” act in the Philippines, unlike in other countries. The act simply means a private entity, such as PLDT, can shut down websites that are deemed objectionable without facing the risk of legal implications.
However, this does not apply to Philippine laws, meaning on its own, PLDT cannot just shut down a website.
Redoble, meanwhile, added that PLDT will continue beefing up its cybersecurity operations group. He disclosed that PLDT has set aside close to P500 million in 2018 for the group. The figure went up to P1.5 billion last year. Operating expenses for the group could reach “close” to P2 billion, he said.
