Policy and international commitments
- The State recognizes the youth’s vital role in nation-building and shall promote and protect their physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual, emotional, psychological, and social well-being.
- The State provides special protections for children from all forms of sexual violence, abuse, and exploitation, especially those committed using information and communications technology (ICT).
- The State provides sanctions and programs for prevention, deterrence, and intervention for situations of online sexual abuse and exploitation of children in both digital and non-digital production, distribution, or possession of child sexual abuse or exploitation material.
- The State guarantees children’s fundamental rights from all forms of neglect, cruelty, and other conditions prejudicial to development.
- The State protects every child from abuse or exploitation whether committed with or without ICT, including when abuse or exploitation involves performances and materials by online or offline means or combinations, and when a child is induced or coerced to engage in child sexual abuse or exploitation materials.
- The State commits to international treaty compliance concerning children’s rights, including the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, its Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, ILO Convention No. 182, and the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.
- The State ensures children’s right to useful, meaningful, safe access to digital technologies, while protecting them from violence online.
- The State gives paramount consideration to children’s interests in actions by public and private social welfare institutions, courts, executive agencies, law enforcement agencies, LGUs, legislative bodies, and private business enterprises related to online safety and child protection.
Core definitions and key terms
- A child is a person below eighteen (18) years of age, or those over but unable to fully take care of themselves or protect themselves from abuse, neglect, cruelty, exploitation, or discrimination due to physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory disability or condition; for this Act, a child also includes:
- A person regardless of age presented, depicted, or portrayed as a child; and
- Computer-generated or digitally or manually crafted images or graphics of a person made to appear as a child.
- Child sexual abuse is any form of communication through any platform or format, or any physical interaction between a child and any person when the child is used for acts inducing sexual stimulation, sexual gratification, or pursuit of desire for carnal knowledge of the child, regardless of perpetrator or victim gender and regardless of the victim’s consent.
- Child sexual abuse or exploitation material (CSAEM/CSAM) covers representations by offline or online means or with the use of ICT, in visual, video, audio, written, or any combination of these, of a child engaged in or involved in real or simulated sexual activities, or depicting acts of sexual abuse or exploitation as a sexual object; it includes materials focusing on genitalia or other private body parts; CSAEM may be used interchangeably with CSAM.
- Child sexual exploitation covers acts including:
- Child sexual abuse with monetary or nonmonetary consideration, favor, or benefit in exchange for opportunity to perform the abusive or exploitative act;
- Actual sexual intercourse with a child or children with or without consideration;
- Use of fraud, machination, undue influence, intimidation, threat, or deception to commit sexual abuse or sexual intercourse with a child or children; and
- Other similar or analogous acts related to child abuse, cruelty, exploitation, or conditions prejudicial to development.
- A competent authority includes law enforcement authority, investigating authority, prosecutor, court, telecommunications/ICT regulator, cybercrime investigator/coordinator, data privacy regulator, or the National Coordination Center against OSAEC and CSAEM (NCC-OSAEC-CSAEM).
- A computer includes devices capable of logical, arithmetic, routing, or storage functions, including mobile phones, smartphones, computer networks, and devices connected to the internet.
- Computer data includes representations of facts, information, or concepts suitable for processing in a computer system, including programs and electronic documents or electronic data messages stored locally or online.
- Content data is the content meaning or purport of communication or message or information conveyed, other than traffic data or subscriber/registration information.
- Grooming is predatory conduct of establishing trust/connection with a child or someone believed to be a child and/or the family, guardian, or caregivers, in person or via electronic and similar devices, for perpetrating sexual abuse or exploitation or producing any form of CSAEM.
- Image-based sexual abuse (ISA) describes technology-facilitated sexual violence involving nonconsensual creation, distribution, or threats to distribute nude or sexual images, including “sextortion scams,” AI “deepfake” pornographic videos, threats to distribute photographs and videos, and taking or sharing sexual assault imagery.
- ICT refers to the totality of electronic means to access, create, collect, store, process, receive, transmit, present, and disseminate information.
- Internet address means a uniform resource locator or internet protocol address.
- Internet asset includes an internet site and any device engaged in peer-to-peer sharing of OSAEC and CSAEM.
- Internet café or kiosk refers to establishments offering or proposing use of computer(s) or computer system for accessing the internet, computer games, or related activities; non-formal business establishments providing internet services are also included.
- Internet hotspot includes establishments/places offering internet access, including hotels or motels, malls, restaurants, internet cafés/kiosks, public spaces, or similar places.
- Internet intermediaries are persons or entities providing infrastructure, platforms, access to, and hosting, transmitting, and indexing of third-party originated content, products, and services, including:
- Internet service providers;
- Web hosting providers including domain name registrars;
- Internet search engines and portals;
- E-commerce intermediaries;
- Internet payment system providers; and
- Participative network platform providers including social media intermediaries.
- An internet service provider (ISP) is a public telecommunication entity (PTE) or value-added service (VAS) provider authorized by or registered with the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) that provides internet data connection through physical transport infrastructure allowing access to the internet.
- An internet site includes a website, bulletin board service, internet chat room, newsgroup, or any other internet or shared network protocol address.
- Luring is communicating by means of a computer system with a child or someone believed to be a child for facilitating sexual activity or production of CSAEM.
- Online sexual abuse or exploitation of children (OSAEC) is use of ICT to abuse and/or exploit children sexually, including online components combined with offline child abuse or exploitation, covering production, dissemination, possession of CSAEM, online grooming, sexual extortion of children, sharing image-based sexual abuse, commercial sexual exploitation of children, exploitation through online prostitution, and live-streaming of sexual abuse with or without consent; OSAEC may be used interchangeably with online child sexual exploitation or abuse (OCSEA).
- Pandering is offering, advertising, promoting, representing, or distributing by any means child sexual abuse or exploitation material, or material purporting to contain such content, regardless of actual content.
- A participative network platform provider facilitates social communication and information exchanges based on online technologies enabling users to contribute to and distribute content and customize applications, including platforms for blogging, video-sharing, picture-sharing, file-sharing, online gaming, or instant messaging.
- A payment system provider (PSP) is an entity engaged in monetary transaction business including banks, fiat or digital money service businesses including cryptocurrencies, credit card companies, and other financial institutions.
- A person includes natural or juridical entities.
- Sexual activity includes specified acts, whether actually performed or simulated, including sexual intercourse or lascivious act (including contact involving genitalia, oral stimulation of genitals/anus), masturbation, sadistic or masochistic abuse, lascivious exhibition of specified body parts, bestiality, use of any object or instrument for lascivious acts, or any other analogous circumstance.
- Sexualization of a child is using a child as object for sexual desire or satisfaction of another even without actual sexual intercourse or showing of private body parts.
- Streaming is broadcasting or viewing through ICT; it is live-streaming when broadcasting/viewing occurs in real-time.
- Subscriber’s information or registration information covers information held by a service provider or internet intermediary relating to subscribers/registrants other than traffic or content data by which identity can be established, including service type and period, subscriber identity and address/contact/billing/payment information, and any other available information about site of communication equipment installation.
- Traffic data (non-content data) covers computer data other than the communication content, including origin, destination, route, time, date, size, duration, or type of communication.
- A web hosting provider supplies infrastructure and server space and connectivity enabling users to post/upload/download/share user-generated or content provider content, and also specialized hosting services including streaming, application hosting, domain name registration, or services enabling users to create and manage websites.
Prohibited acts for OSAEC and CSAEM
- Regardless of a child’s consent, Section 4 makes it unlawful for any person to commit the following acts through online or offline means or a combination:
- Hiring, employing, using, persuading, inducing, extorting, engaging, or coercing a child to perform or participate in any way in creation/production of any form of OSAEC and CSAEM;
- Producing, directing, manufacturing, facilitating, or creating any form of CSAEM, or participating in any such production/direction/manufacture/facilitation/creation;
- Offering, selling, distributing, advertising, promoting, exporting, or importing any form of CSAEM by any means;
- Knowingly publishing, transmitting, and broadcasting by any means any form of CSAEM;
- Permitting or influencing a child to engage, participate, or assist in any form of CSAEM;
- Producing, directing, creating, hiring, employing, or paying a facilitator to stream or livestream acts of child sexual abuse or exploitation;
- Streaming or live-streaming acts of, or any form of, child sexual abuse and exploitation;
- Recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, providing, or receiving a child, or inducing or influencing the same, for purposes of violating the Act;
- Introducing or matching a child to a foreign national or any person for committing offenses under the Act;
- For film distributors, theaters, and ICT services, distributing CSAEM or facilitating commission of any offense under the Act, by themselves or in cooperation with other entities;
- Knowingly benefiting, financial or otherwise, from commission of offenses under the Act;
- Providing a venue for commission of prohibited acts such as dens, private rooms, cubicles, cinemas, houses, private homes, or other establishments;
- Engaging in luring or grooming of a child, with grooming taking place offline as a prelude to violations also penalized;
- Sexualizing children by presenting them as objects of sexual fantasy, or making them conversational subjects of sexual fantasies, on any online or digital platform;
- Engaging in pandering as defined in the Act;
- Willfully subscribing, joining, donating to, or supporting an internet site hosting OSAEC or streaming/live-streaming of child sexual abuse and exploitation;
- Advertising, publishing, printing, broadcasting, distributing, or causing the advertisement/publication/printing/broadcasting/distribution by any means of brochures, flyers, or materials promoting OSAEC and child sexual abuse or exploitation;
- Possessing any form of CSAEM, with possession of three (3) or more CSAEMs serving as prima facie evidence of intent to sell, distribute, publish, or broadcast;
- Willfully accessing any form of CSAEM; and
- Conspiring to commit any prohibited act under Section 4, with investigation or prosecution without prejudice to appropriate mechanisms under Republic Act No. 9208 and other related laws.
- Section 5 provides that the victim’s consent is not material or relevant and cannot be used as a defense.
- Section 6 provides for enhanced classification:
- A violation is a syndicate offense if carried out by a group of three (3) or more persons conspiring or confederating with one another.
- A violation is a large-scale violation if committed against three (3) or more persons.
- Sections 7 and 8 provide lawful conduct protections through good-faith reporting/takedown actions and safe harbor purposes.
Good faith takedown and reporting protections
- Section 7 shields any person with responsibility for reporting cases, blocking an internet address, removing a website/domain, taking down shared videos/pictures/messages for internet intermediary services, and providing information for investigation/prosecution from civil, criminal, or administrative liability, if:
- The action was done in good faith;
- The action was necessary to prevent access or dissemination of CSAEMs; and
- The action was reported within twenty-four (24) hours from blocking/removal/takedown.
- Section 8 provides a safe harbor exception for access, possession, and recording of CSAEM by any person for:
- Complying with duties under the Act;
- Reporting to government authorities;
- Legitimate investigation and administration of the criminal justice system; and
- Legitimate policy, scholarly, and academic purposes with requisite ethical clearance.
Private-sector duties and reporting
- Section 9(a) requires internet intermediaries to:
- Adopt in their terms of service/service agreements a prohibition of any form or conduct of streaming or live-streaming of OSAEC and CSAEM on their websites/platforms/servers/facilities;
- Preserve, within six (6) months from the date of transaction, subscriber/registration information and traffic data in their control, extendible for another six (6) months or during pendency of the case;
- Preserve content data within one (1) year, and upon notice by a competent authority, preserve extendibly for another six (6) months;
- Immediately block access to, remove, or take down internet addresses/URLs/websites or content containing CSAEM or involving streaming/live-streaming of OSAEC within twenty-four (24) hours from receipt of notice from a competent authority or notice containing sufficient information to identify content and its source;
- Allow extension of the twenty-four (24) hours blocking/takedown period by another twenty-four (24) hours upon written justification if the notice is from any private citizen or a competent authority without sufficient information to identify content and source;
- Report to the Department of Justice (DOJ) within three (3) days the internet addresses/websites blocked/removed/taken down, or any unusual data activity using their server/facility;
- Provide subscriber/registration information and/or traffic data pursuant to lawful process (subpoena issued by the PNP, NBI, or the prosecutor under the Rules of Court), complying with Republic Act No. 10175 and Republic Act No. 10173 requirements; the subpoena must particularly describe the information sought and show relevancy to SAEC/OSAEC and CSAEM cases; and
- Develop mechanisms and measures compatible with their services to prevent, detect, respond to, or report violations, including available technologies/programs/software to remove/block/filter access to or streaming of violations;
- Coordinate with DOJ-Office of Cybercrime (DOJ-OOC) to define standards for measuring reasonable compliance with duties; and
- Maintain a policy on notifying their community, including provisions for delaying or dispensing with notification to a suspected offender account holder/subscriber/customer when an ongoing criminal investigation involves disclosure requests via subpoena/warrant/court order/government request.
- Section 9(b) adds ISP duties:
- ISPs must notify PNP or NBI within forty-eight (48) hours from receipt of information that child sexual abuse or exploitation is being committed or is likely to be committed using their server/facility based on traffic analysis and sudden surges in usage;
- ISPs must block CSAEM or streaming/live-streaming within twenty-four (24) hours from receipt of sufficient notice identifying content and its source;
- If the notice targets a legitimate website where blocking would block legitimate content, ISPs must inform PNP or NBI within the same twenty-four (24) hours period;
- Failure to block within twenty-four (24) hours is prima facie evidence of knowledge, punishable under Section 4(d);
- ISPs must maintain logs of each subscriber and the IP address assigned at a given date and time;
- ISPs must develop and adopt systems/procedures for preventing/blocking/detecting/reporting OSAEC and CSAEM on their platforms, including maintaining an updated list of URLs with CSAEM and associated hashes by partnering with organizations maintaining comprehensive URL lists; and
- ISPs must adopt child protection standards in corporate governance, establish high privacy settings as default safety/privacy for children, and, where practicable and necessary, adopt age-verification controls and protocols to restrict access under Section 3(c)(iv) of Presidential Decree No. 1986.
- Section 9(c) requires PSPs (and persons with direct knowledge of OSAEC/CSAEM financial activity) to:
- Report suspected OSAEC and CSAEM-related activity or suspicious transactions to DOJ-OOC within twenty-four (24) hours and report to the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) within five (5) days from discovery;
- Allow law enforcement agencies investigating violations to require financial intermediaries, internet PSPs, and other financial facilitators to provide financial documents and information upon order of a competent court when there is reasonable ground to believe the transactions involve prohibited activities under the Act;
- Allow law enforcement agencies to inquire into or examine particular deposits/investments with any banking or non-bank financial institution upon court order when there is reasonable ground to believe the deposits/investments (including related accounts) relate to violations of the Act;
- Require money transfer and remittance centers to require individuals transacting to present valid government identification cards; and
- Mandate DILG and AMLC to promulgate within ninety (90) days from effectivity the necessary rules and regulations to implement these provisions.
- Section 9(d) requires internet hotspots/cafés/kiosks to:
- Notify NCC-OSAEC-CSAEM within twenty-four (24) hours from obtaining facts and circumstances of any violations committed within their premises, with prima facie knowledge where the acts or omissions are committed within their premises;
- Install and update programs/software designed to detect sexually explicit activities involving children and ensure access/transmittal is blocked/filtered; and
- Promote awareness against OSAEC/CSAEM through clear and visible signages in English and the local dialect with local and national hotlines posted within their facilities.
Penalties, parole ineligibility, and corporate liability
- Section 10 imposes the following penalties for violations of Section 4, keyed to specific paragraphs:
- For Section 4(a)–(j): life imprisonment and a fine of not less than PHP 2,000,000.00.
- For Section 4(k)–(l): reclusion temporal maximum to reclusion perpetua and a fine of not less than PHP 1,000,000.00 but not more than PHP 2,000,000.00.
- For Section 4(m), (n), and (o): reclusion temporal maximum and a fine of not less than PHP 800,000.00 but not more than PHP 1,000,000.00.
- For Section 4(p): reclusion temporal medium and a fine of not less than PHP 500,000.00 but not more than PHP 800,000.00.
- For Section 4(q): reclusion temporal minimum and a fine of not less than PHP 300,000.00 but not more than PHP 500,000.00.
- For Section 4(r): reclusion temporal and a fine of not less than PHP 300,000.00.
- For Section 4(s): prision mayor maximum and a fine of not less than PHP 200,000.00 but not more than PHP 300,000.00.
- For Section 4(t): prision mayor medium and a fine of not less than PHP 100,000.00 but not more than PHP 200,000.00.
- For Section 6: life imprisonment and a fine of not less than PHP 5,000,000.00 but not more than PHP 20,000,000.00.
- Section 10 provides parole ineligibility for specified offenders:
- A recidivist;
- A step-parent or collateral relative within the third (3rd) degree of consanguinity or affinity having control or moral ascendancy over the child; and
- Any offender whose victim died or suffered permanent mental, psychological, or physical disability.
- Section 10 provides gradation for incomplete offenses:
- Except where the Act’s penalty is life imprisonment, frustrated commission of acts under Section 4 is punishable by one degree lower than the prescribed penalty.
- Attempted commission under Section 4 is punishable by two degrees lower than the prescribed penalty.
- Section 10 provides penalties for violating Section 9:
- prision mayor medium and a fine of not less than PHP 1,200,000.00 but not more than PHP 2,000,000.00 for the first offense;
- For subsequent offenses: a fine of not less than PHP 2,000,000.00 but not more than PHP 3,000,000.00, and revocation of its license or franchise to operate and immediate closure of the establishment, when applicable.
- Section 10 penalizes abuse of authority under the Act:
- Any government official or employee or agent who abuses authority provided for under Sections 9 and 23 is punishable by imprisonment of prision mayor maximum, perpetual disqualification to hold public office, to vote, and to participate in public elections, and a fine of not less than PHP 500,000.00; benefits due for service in government are forfeited.
- Section 11 imposes corporate and juridical-person penalties:
- If the offender is a juridical person, the penalty is imposed on the owner, manager, partner, member of the board of directors, and/or responsible officer who participated in the crime or knowingly permitted or failed to prevent its commission;
- The corporation is fined a minimum of ten percent (10%) but not more than thirty percent (30%) of its net worth;
- The corporation’s license or permit to operate may be revoked.
- Section 12 provides alien-offender consequences:
- A foreigner is criminally prosecuted immediately;
- After serving sentence, the offender is deported and permanently barred from re-entering the Philippines.
Confiscation, forfeiture, and proceeds use
- Section 13 requires the court to order confiscation and forfeiture in favor of the government of all proceeds, tools, and instruments used in the commission of the crime, unless these are properties of a third person not liable for the unlawful act.
- Section 13 requires damages awards to be taken from the offender’s personal and separate properties.
- If the offender’s personal and separate properties are insufficient, the deficiency is taken from the confiscated and forfeited proceeds, tools, and instruments.
- Section 13 directs that proceeds derived from sale of properties used in the commission of any form of child sexual abuse or exploitation be exclusively used for child-rearing programs under the special account of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
- Section 13 imposes a payment equivalent where proceeds/tools/instruments are destroyed, diminished, rendered worthless, concealed, removed, converted, or transferred to prevent finding or to avoid forfeiture/confiscation: the offender must pay an amount equal to the value of the proceeds, tools, and instruments.
Jurisdiction, venue, and confidentiality protections
- Section 14 grants extra-territorial jurisdiction over acts defined and penalized under the Act even if committed outside the Philippines, including where:
- A continuing offense was commenced in the Philippines; or
- Committed in another country and the suspect/accused is a Filipino citizen or a permanent resident and the act is committed against a Filipino citizen.
- No prosecution under Section 14 begins if a foreign government has prosecuted or is prosecuting the person for the conduct, except upon approval of the Secretary of Justice.
- Section 15 designates the DOJ as the central authority for extradition and mutual legal assistance requests in all legal matters.
- Section 15 requires the DOJ to make and receive requests for mutual legal assistance in criminal matters from a foreign State related to investigation/prosecution of child sexual abuse or exploitation, and to execute/arrange the execution of such requests; treaty provisions apply where a mutual legal assistance treaty exists.
- Section 19 vests jurisdiction in the Family Court with territorial jurisdiction where the offense or any essential element was committed under Republic Act No. 8369 (Family Courts Act of 1997).
- Section 19 provides that the court shall not require the presence of a child victim during trial and that the child testifies in accordance with the Rule on Examination of a Child Witness as provided by the Supreme Court and the Rules of Court.
- Section 20 provides that a criminal action is filed where the offense was committed, where any element occurred, or where the child is found or actually resides at the time of commission; the court where the criminal action is first filed acquires jurisdiction to the exclusion of other courts.
- Section 21 requires confidentiality and privacy of the child at all stages:
- The judge, prosecutor, or referred officer may conduct closed-door investigations/prosecution/trial for the child’s best interest;
- The child’s name and personal circumstances, including immediate family information or anything tending to establish identity, shall not be disclosed to the public;
- Child records are confidential and under seal, and are released only by written request and court order to: court staff for administrative use, the prosecuting attorney, defense counsel, guardian ad litem, agents of investigating law enforcement agencies, and other persons determined by the court;
- Any CSAEM in court records is subject to protective order limiting viewing to parties, counsel, expert