PLDT-Smart urges the government to work closely with telcos in the fight against online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (OSAEC).

Talking to Karen Davila on ANC’s Headstart, Angel Redoble, FVP and Chief Information Security Officer of ePLDT Group, PLDT Group, and Smart Communications said PLDT-Smart is looking forward to share the group’s efforts against OSAEC and help the government come up with more effective programs to combat these crimes, “We need to be part of the planning, up to the point where we are able to bring the perpetrators to court. This is the marching order within the organization. This is why PLDT-Smart has a child protection policy in place.”

PLDT-Smart has been actively taking down malicious websites throughout the coronavirus crisis. So far, the group has blocked more than 3,000 domains linked to online abuse of children as mandated by the National Privacy Commission (NPC).

While the PLDT group can restrict access to web pages linked to child pornography, it needs the help of the government, especially law enforcement agencies, in ensnaring criminals who peddle children in cyberspace.

The biggest challenge lies with pinpointing the location of internet users that live stream child abuse content. Still, Redoble says there’s a way to run after these perpetrators without violating data privacy laws, “We can identify their location with data analytics. Because live streaming consumes data traffic, we can flag massive sustained volume in areas that haven’t seen this much traffic before to authorities. We have met with concerned government offices and non-government organizations on how we can work closely together to end these clandestine operations.”

The PLDT group is also boosting its arsenal against these criminal activities. The telco is currently testing a technology that will allow it to automatically restrict access to identified child porn materials that are posted even on legitimate websites. Angel Redoble says PLDT-Smart is willing to share this platform to other players in the industry, “If we can create a technical working group, we can present our workaround in detail to broaden the fight against child pornography.”

PLDT-Smart is in the final stages of its membership application to the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) - a leading UK-based international non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating online child sexual abuse content. Once completed, this membership will enable the telco group to gain access to an extensive database of web pages linked to child sexual abuse.

The PLDT Group also supports the position of the Philippine Chamber of Telecommunications Operators (PCTO) in urging Congress to reconcile conflicting laws that impact ISP compliance and hamper anti-child pornography efforts.

“We have demonstrated that we are actively engaged in fighting online sexual abuse and exploitation of children. But if our lawmakers can reconcile conflicting provisions in our laws, then we can do more,” Redoble added.