Senator Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday renewed her call to amend the decade-old anti-cybercrime law to be updated to curb online child abuses.
Speaking in a media briefing, Hontiveros said her office will also look into the enhancement of operational capacities of law enforcement authorities on behalf of protecting minors.
Hontiveros met with representatives from Facebook, NBI, and PNP to discuss the continuous propagation of child sexual abuse and exploitation materials online.
All stakeholders agreed to three steps in combatting online abuse and exploitation: the immediate takedown of exploitative content; the preservation of evidence on the side of Facebook; and the transmittal of those evidence to law enforcement.
Asked why online child abuses still happen despite existing regulatory mechanisms, Honstiveros said that the country’s laws and the regulatory mechanisms of internet platforms likely cannot keep up with the swift and sharp evolution of technology itself.
She emphasized that the Anti-Online Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children bill, which she authored should be signed into law to prevent such abuses.
Meantime, she welcomes Facebook’s commitment to participate in the crafting of the Implementing Rules and Regulation as the measure is expected to lapse into law July 28.
