Online Sexual Abuse in the Philippines

Social media platforms manipulate children. According to UNICEF, 20% of minors aged 12-17 have been
sexually abused online. The new exploitation of children acts provides an institutional approach against
these crimes. Online platforms were tasked to preserve the evidence and take down any offensive
materials and report the crime to the authorities. Even internet shops were tasked to block or filter sites
that might contain any sexually explicit activities involving children. Although there is a law for this,
many citizens still think that it is useless if they don't start banning those sites that cause the crimes.
Since they can still sexualize after they have been caught because the site is still active. PNPs and NBIs
have seen code words before which raises red flags in their minds, minor try to disguise and use
different terms of words to prevent any suspicion. Senator Risa Hontiveros also once expressed grave
concern about this issue where the minors themselves spread their private photos and videos in
exchange for money. She said that the law is in the right direction but much more still needs to be done.
Law enforcement can only do enable with the state of technology that we have to reach all the
googleable materials, sites, or even groups. To prevent and solve this, we citizens must cooperate and
help the government by avoiding all unnecessary and offensive doings