A cybersecurity practitioner has called for mandatory child-safety controls on digital platforms and devices, arguing that banning individual apps will not address the wider online ecosystem that can expose minors to violent content, grooming, and radicalization.
In a revised policy white paper, cybersecurity professional Albert “Abet” Dela Cruz proposed a national digital safety framework requiring platforms to restrict features for minors by default, device makers to incorporate safety controls during activation, and the government to expand digital literacy programs for parents.
The paper was updated following two school shootings in Tacloban City and Zamboanga within two months. Authorities have raised possible links between the suspects’ online activity and violent content, although the exact role of particular platforms remains under investigation.
Dela Cruz said the incidents should prompt policymakers to examine how digital services are designed instead of placing the burden primarily on parents.
“When something breaks that badly, twice, in the same way, you stop asking ‘what did the parents miss’ and start asking ‘what did the system fail to design for,’” he said.
Dela Cruz, who has worked in information security, cybersecurity operations, digital governance, and public-sector technology policy, said parents were being asked to protect children in online environments that lack adequate safeguards.
“Not that parents failed — that we’ve been asking parents to defend a perimeter that was never built with defenses in the first place,” he said.
“Default-open settings. Unmoderated chat layers bolted onto games kids already trust. Recommendation engines with no brakes. No one owns that architecture. Everyone just hopes it holds.”
The white paper identified algorithmic recommendation systems, unmoderated chats, weak age verification, and safety settings that are difficult for parents to find or configure as major risks.
It argued that harmful material may reach children even when they do not deliberately search for it. Watching a violent clip or disturbing post can lead recommendation systems to serve similar content repeatedly, potentially normalizing it over time, the paper said.
Dela Cruz cautioned against focusing policy responses on platforms such as Roblox or GoreBox. While content originating from or associated with these apps may circulate online, he said the broader problem involves chat systems and the amplification of content across services such as TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Discord, and Telegram.
“Since Zamboanga, officials have started saying the quiet part out loud — that it’s not really Roblox, or GoreBox before it, that’s the danger. It’s the ecosystem those apps sit inside,” he said.
“I also think banning the app of the week and calling it solved is how we guarantee a third headline in another two months.”
The paper urged the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to lead the creation of a binding National Child Online Safety Framework.
Among its proposals are “default deny” settings that would restrict platform features until verified parental consent is obtained, mandatory child-safety prompts during device activation, household-level content-filtering options, and annual platform reports on online harms involving minors.
Device setup processes should ask whether a phone, tablet, or gaming console will be used by a child and offer controls for safe browsing, app downloads, screen time, virtual private network applications, and violent or adult content, it said.
The framework also proposed a one-click family safety mode combining content filters, direct-message restrictions, safe search, screen-time limits, and app-store controls in a single interface.
Telcos would be required to offer family-safe network profiles without additional charges, while platforms accessible to children would undergo regular assessments of risks arising from their algorithms.
Dela Cruz also called for practical digital parenting education through schools, local government units, health centers, churches, and workplaces. Training should include instructions on using Apple Screen Time, Google Family Link, TikTok Family Pairing, router-level filters, and tools for spotting possible grooming behavior.
“The solution is not better parenting — it is better system design,” the white paper said.
It nevertheless acknowledged that technical controls and regulation cannot replace communication between children and trusted adults.
“The goal is not to build walls around children. It is to build children who know how to navigate a wall-less world,” Dela Cruz said.
