PLDT strengthens safeguard vs online child exploitation

MANILA, Philippines — The PLDT Group is beefing up safeguards against online child exploitation through new technologies and membership in an international group dedicated to eliminating online child sexual abuse content.

PLDT yesterday said it is building up further the capacity of its network-based child protection platform and is testing additional technologies that would allow automatic blocking of end-user access to online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (OSAEC) or child pornographic content.

The group is also expanding its intelligence sources on domains with identified OSAEC content.

PLDT is applying for membership to UK-based international non-profit organization Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) which is dedicated to eliminating online child sexual abuse content.

Once completed, PLDT said its membership with the IWF would enable the group to gain access to a rich database of web pages linked to child sexual abuse.

“As we strongly condemn the continuing abuse on our children online, this membership underscores our network-level investment on a more advanced child protection platform,” said Angel Redoble, FVP and chief information security officer of ePLDT Group, PLDT Group, and Smart Communications Inc.

“This also seals our commitment to the global cooperation and resolve against OSAEC. With the completion of this IWF membership in the first quarter of 2021, we look forward to contributing more to multi-sectoral efforts to end this crime against our children,” she said.

To date, the PLDT Group said it has taken down 3,011 sites that host illicit content featuring children as mandated by the National Telecommunications Commission.

“When users try to open these malicious materials that are on our network blacklist, our child protection platform will automatically redirect them to a landing page that informs them that the files they’re trying to access violate the country’s Anti-Child Pornography Law,” Redoble said.

In support of regulatory compliance and network technology investments, the PLDT Group said it has also been actively collaborating and seeking guidance of various children’s rights champions and like-minded organizations for a holistic approach toward child protection.

The group has also rolled out its own child safeguarding policy that would further drive its child online protection thrust and guide its impact to children in the context of the workplace, marketplace, and communities as a result of its partnership with UNICEF.