Unsuccessful so far
The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) in the Philippines has tried to police and control the content of these platforms without success, as there is no law empowering them to do so. These platforms, the agency said, have been linked to the radicalization and recruitment of minors involved in recent school shootings in the country. They promote nihilistic violent extremism, it added.
The CICC also said the platforms should be “reachable, accountable, and responsive” when the content of their platforms endangers people, especially children, and risk promoting violent acts and self-harm. When they suspended one of the platforms for time, there was an outcry from users who apparently don’t care about the harm it has done to children. They just want internet access.
How can we imagine this entity called AI? When used to help humans, this technology is a great friend and teacher. When it goes out of control, it can be used to hurt young people. It transforms from being a friend and teacher to a dangerous creature, not unlike Dr. Jekyll becoming Mr. Hyde.
The destructive AI coming into the Philippines through the telcos is what I call an “evil gremlin.” A gremlin is a mythical figure that was said to have infiltrated the engines of British fighter pilots in World War II and was blamed for the frequent mechanical failures of their aircraft rather than the aircraft builders or mechanics for putting them in grave danger. Philippine law enforcement officers are unable to bring the evil gremlins — the AI-driven social media platforms — to account because they are based outside the Philippines.
However, the National Telecommunications Commission and the Department of Information and Communications Technology under Secretary Henry Rhoel Aguda have that power. They have powers to regulate what comes into the Philippines and block the evil gremlins with legally mandated, installation-ready blocking software. They have power over the IPS and their parent companies, the telcos; and must exercise it in accordance with the law for the sake of the people, especially children, being abused and exploited by the “evil gremlin.”
No one knows why they don’t enforce the law to protect children. Allegations of collusion with telcos are unfounded, they say. The United Nations Children’s Fund says more than 2 million children have been sexually exploited over the internet. Republic Act 11930, or the Anti-Online Sexual Abuse or Exploitation of Children and Anti-Child Sexual Abuse or Exploitation Materials Act of 2022, replaces and drastically strengthens RA 9775, or the Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009, which this column proposed and promoted with then-senator Jamby Madrigal.
Under the new law, ISP and telco officials, social media intermediaries, and financial entities that fail to block or report these horrific illegal activities and allow AI-driven child abuse to continue on the internet will face severe administrative fines, operational suspensions, or criminal liability for noncompliance.
Yet, somehow, they all enjoy impunity and protection by the political influence the telcos wield. We could pray they repent and protect children and not allow them to be abused./PN
