Digital apps with violent history must prove safety – Angara

MANILA, Philippines —  Applications with a history of being used for violence should prove their social media platforms are safe for children, Education Secretary Sonny Angara said, amid proposals to ban minors’ access to “high risk digital services.”

“Definitely those apps with a history of being used for violence, being used by terrorists, nihilistic, violent, extremist groups for grooming, we should reverse the burden. Instead of them placing the burden on us to prove that they’re being used for these acts, let’s place the burden on them to prove that their app is safe for the use of our kids,” Angara said.

The Senate has passed on third and final reading the proposed “Safe Media Access and Responsible Technology for Kids in Digital Spaces (SMART KIDS) Act,” seeking to ban minors’ access to “high risk digital services” like Roblox and GoreBox, which are online platforms where youth have been groomed into committing violent acts.

Angara said he is in favor of measures regulating internet use for minors.

“I don’t know which age, we’ll leave it to our legislators, but definitely, I think up to 15, 16, very vulnerable for them because they’re very emotional and their faculties are not fully formed. And then also, because they’re very emotional, sometimes they do something and they regret later on,” Angara said.

The bill will compel high-risk digital services to suspend, restrict, disable or remove any account owned, operated or used by anyone under 18 years old.

Not covered by the ban are electronic mail services, private messaging services, online gaming services not primarily used for social networking, educational platforms, news services and professional collaboration services.

“Because there may still be technology in educational apps and maybe communication apps,” he said.

Angara said that implementation is crucial once the proposed measure is signed into law.

“The enforcement is also something that should come into play when you pass a law because that will be partially or wholly unenforceable,” he said.