Legal experts, government officials, and industry representatives assembled in Taguig City to evaluate two pending legislative bills that could reshape children’s online safety, platform accountability, and digital rights across the country.

The policy dialogue, titled “Safe Kids, Smart Policies: A Dialogue on Children’s Online Safety and Digital Rights,” was co-hosted by law firm Gorriceta Africa Cauton & Saavedra and tech advocacy group GoDigital Philippines.

Center stage at the forum were House Bill No. 11566 (the proposed SAFE Kids Act) and Senate Bill No. 2424 (the proposed SMART KIDS Act).

Participants examined how the proposed legislation intends to mitigate online risks for minors while raising critical questions surrounding broad age-based bans, identity verification systems, user privacy, and access to information.

Atty. Mark S. Gorriceta, Chairman and Managing Partner of Gorriceta Africa Cauton & Saavedra and Chairman of GoDigital Philippines, opened the forum by urging lawmakers to craft clear, practical, and enforceable rules that protect youth without curtailing core rights.

“Protecting children online is a responsibility we all share. But effective legislation requires careful consideration of how safeguards will work in practice, who will be responsible for implementing them, and how we can protect children without unnecessarily restricting freedom of expression, privacy, and access to information. The goal should be policies that are clear, proportionate, enforceable, and workable,” Gorriceta said.

Key themes discussed during the dialogue included:

• Evolving Cyber Threats: Cyberbullying, online grooming, and online sexual abuse and exploitation (OSAEEC) require stronger systemic protections.
• Platform Accountability: Tech companies must build stronger built-in safeguards and take direct responsibility for user safety.
• Verification vs. Privacy: Establishing reliable age verification without triggering excessive collection or exposure of personal data remains a major regulatory hurdle.
• Digital Inclusion: Outright platform bans risk isolating youth from valuable educational content, creative channels, and legitimate social participation.

Undersecretary Renato “Aboy” Paraiso, Executive Director of the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC), emphasized in his keynote address that internet policy must account for the evolving capacities of young users.

“The question is not simply whether children should be allowed or prohibited from accessing social media. We must also consider how restrictions can be designed to provide real and measurable protection while recognizing children’s ever-changing capacities, their access to information, and their legitimate participation in digital spaces,” Paraiso said.

Representing both the communications industry and parent perspectives, Kankan Ramos, Chief Operating Officer of InvictusPH, highlighted the balance between protection and opportunity. She noted that children encounter commercial content through creator videos, entertainment feeds, and targeted recommendations, necessitating responsible marketing standards alongside safety guardrails.

“When I look at my daughter, I do not see a child whose world has been made smaller by technology. I see someone whose world, in many ways, has grown bigger because of technology. But I’m also her mother. I worry about what she encounters, who can reach her, and how online experiences might shape her confidence, choices, and well-being… Child protection is not optional…But neither is the children’s right to learn, express themselves, and access information,” Ramos stated.

“The policy question is not simply how many children can we keep off a platform. It is also what do we preserve for children while we reduce the risks,” Ramos added.

During the open forum, Gorriceta, alongside firm Partner Atty. Micaela Kristina V. Galvez and Managing Associate Atty. Luis Teodoro B. Pascua, answered questions regarding the legal implications of the bills.

The forum concluded with a shared consensus among organizers and participants that effective digital child protection requires evidence-based, proportionate frameworks that protect minors while preserving privacy and access to the digital ecosystem.