DICT bares safety policy for kids using government Wi-Fi

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) will implement an online safeguarding policy to ensure the protection of children who will use the government’s free Wi-Fi program.

The DICT yesterday presented the salient features of the Child Online Safeguarding Policy during the virtual celebration of the annual Safer Internet Day, which seeks to promote online safety especially for children.

The creation of the policy is prescribed under Republic Act 10929 or the Free Internet Access in Public Places Act enacted into law in 2017.

DICT Assistant Secretary Diana May Cabrales said the policy prescribes mechanisms and standards in order to protect and safeguard children and young people who use free internet access points established by the government.

As of Jan. 14, Cabrales said there are 7,642 activated sites for the free Wi-Fi program in different parts of the country. Most of the sites are in public schools, colleges and training centers, followed by government hospitals and rural health units.

Based on the guidelines approved by DICT Secretary Gregorio Honasan last December, access to harmful and age-inappropriate content by children will be blocked for those using the free internet.

Unacceptable uses include accessing, downloading and uploading of sexually explicit and child-exploitative content; viewing of content protected by copyright laws without permission; other unlawful and criminal activities; sending of threatening, discriminatory or harassing messages; gambling and any other activity that harms or endangers the well-being of children.

Children who use the free public Wi-Fi will also be required to register, with their parents mandated to provide personal details and a copy of a government-issued ID or other similar documents.

Those who will access the program from schools will also be required to provide the child’s learner reference number issued by the Department of Education.

Users who access the restricted sites will be automatically logged out, while mechanisms will be instituted to allow reporting or flagging of harmful or age-inappropriate content.

Social Welfare Undersecretary for operations Aimee Torrefranca-Neri noted how the current pandemic resulted in the increase of online sexual abuse and exploitation of children.

Last year, the United States-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reported a 209-percent increase in cyber tip reports for the Philippines, recording almost 1.3 million tips compares to over 418,000 in 2019.

The Anti-Money Laundering Council also reported a 156-percent increase in the suspicious transactions linked to child sexual abuse and exploitation in the country.