Gatchalian flags underaged Facebook users

MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian yesterday raised concern over the large number of underaged Filipinos using Facebook despite the platform’s minimum age requirement of 13 years old.

Citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), Gatchalian said 87.64 percent of Filipino internet users aged 12 have social media accounts, while 80.76 percent of those aged 11 and 72.86 percent of those aged 10 also use social media.

Among 13-year-old internet users, 93.72 percent have social media accounts, according to the PSA.

“We know technology brings many benefits, but it also has negative effects on our youth, especially when the use of gadgets and other technologies is not monitored and guided properly,” Gatchalian said during the hearing of the Senate committee on basic education.

Gatchalian renewed his call for the passage of Senate Bill 2066, the Social Media Safety for Children Act, which seeks to prohibit children below 16 from using social media platforms.