The Senate passed on final reading Senate Bill No. 2424, or the “Safe Media Access and Responsible Technology for Kids in Digital Spaces (SMART KIDS) Act”, which seeks to restrict minors or those below 18 years old from using high-risk digital services like Meta Platforms, Roblox, and Gorebox.
The Senate voted 16 – 1, without abstention, to establish a framework for identifying digital services that may pose risks to children, and require parents, guardians, and digital service providers to adopt effective measures to prevent children’s exposure to digital risks, minimize distraction from mobile devices and electronic gadgets, and safeguard children from online harm in support of holistic development and a safe learning environment.
“Taos-pusong pasasalamat sa lahat ng nakibahagi at tumulong sa pagsulong ng napapanahong panukalang ito.”
“Taos-pusong pasasalamat sa lahat ng nakibahagi at tumulong sa pagsulong ng napapanahong panukalang ito. Aprubado na po tayo sa ikatlong pagbasa!” Senator Robin Padilla said.
Sponsored by Padilla, the measure aims to compel high-risk digital services to suspend, restrict, disable, or remove any account reasonably determined to be owned, operated, or used by a minor.
“Isa itong mahalagang hakbang para sa mas ligtas na digital environment para sa ating mga kabataan upang mas maprotektahan sila mula sa mga panganib ng social media at iba pang digital platforms,” the legislator said.
Under the measure, these platforms will be mandated to ensure that no person under 18 years old is able to access or create an account on the platform, and likewise adopt and implement age-assurance measures to determine whether a user satisfies the minimum age requirement.
These provisions do not cover electronic mail services, private messaging services, online gaming services that are not primarily used for social networking, educational platforms, news services, and professional collaboration services.
Once enacted into law, the implementation of the safeguards will be under the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).
It also mandates DICT to establish and maintain an accessible platform for the public to freely report suspected violations of the Act. Reports of harmful content requiring immediate action shall be subject to expedited referral or escalation to the concerned digital services.
Parents or legal guardians who are found to knowingly facilitate the circumvention of the age-assurance mechanisms may be fined or may be penalized.
High-risk digital services found to have violated the Act may face a P5 million to P20 million fine per violation, and another fine of P100 thousand every day that they do not comply with the measure.
Meanwhile, parents or legal guardians who are found to knowingly facilitate the circumvention of the age-assurance mechanisms may be fined as much as P50,000, or may be penalized with community service, and mandatory attendance to digital parenting and child safety programs.
