IN PHOTOS | Education Secretary Sonny Angara urged stronger collaboration among families, schools, and communities to protect young Filipinos online during the launch of the "Digital Dialogue In Real Life" exhibit. Speaking at the inaugural Philippine Conference on Children and Media 2026, Angara highlighted the importance of Media and Information Literacy and its integration into the Strengthened Senior High School Program.
DepEd PH
The Department of Education (DepEd) is seeking greater involvement from technology companies in protecting Filipino children online, as Meta acknowledged that minors can still falsify their ages to evade social media restrictions despite existing safeguards.
Education Secretary Sonny Angara said Monday that responsibility for protecting children from cyberbullying, exploitation and harmful content should not fall solely on young internet users, stressing the need for stronger intervention from parents, schools and digital platforms.
“Digital safety is a shared responsibility. Parents, teachers, schools, government, civil society, and technology platforms all have a role to play,” Angara said during a forum on youth online safety in Makati City.
Meta Philippines Public Policy Head Gio Tingson conceded that children could circumvent age restrictions by providing false birth dates, although he maintained that the company had measures to detect such accounts.
Tingson said Meta relies on age-assurance technology that examines users' activities, online connections and content preferences to determine whether their declared ages are accurate.
“Maraming ways pero ’yun kaya po natin ginagawa ’yung age assurance,” he told reporters when asked whether minors could manipulate their ages on the platform.
Meta has introduced Teen Accounts, which automatically impose certain privacy and content restrictions on younger users. Those below 16 require parental approval to change specified safety settings.
Authorities may flag potentially illegal content through a government escalation channel, which Meta reviews against domestic laws and its community standards.
“’Pag in-escalate po ’yan sa amin at tiningnan natin na may violation sa community standards ng Meta o kaya ng domestic law, tayo po ay nag-a-action,” Tingson said.
He said abuse material is subject to removal regardless of whether it depicts actual abuse or was generated using artificial intelligence.
Angara, meanwhile, warned against treating restrictions on social media access as the sole solution to online threats, noting that digital platforms have become part of children's education and everyday communication.
“Kaya hindi sapat na sabihin lang natin sa mga bata, ‘Huwag kang mag-social media.’ That is a little like telling a learner, ‘Huwag kang makipag-usap sa classmates mo,’” he said.
With an estimated 95.8 million social media users in the Philippines, Angara said children face increasing exposure to harassment, misinformation and exploitation.
DepEd has introduced the Kaagapay Parent Engagement Program to help parents recognize warning signs of online harm, discuss digital risks with their children and identify reporting mechanisms.
DepEd has also integrated media and information literacy into its Strengthened Senior High School Program to teach students how to evaluate online information and recognize misleading content.
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