NTC asks ISPs to block cyber porn

MANILA, Philippines - The government will require Internet service providers (ISPs) and telecommunication companies to install software to monitor and filter out cyber-pornography sites and content.

Speaking at a “Child Abuse and Exploitation in CyberSpace” forum, Samuel Sabile, National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) networks and facilities division officer-in-charge, said the memorandum circular issued last Jan. 30 will be enforced within the month after fulfilling the publication requirements.

In the forum organized by the Council on the Welfare of Children last week, NTC and other government agencies like the Department of Justice (DOJ), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Philippine National Police (PNP), and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) gave updates on measures being taken to fight cyber-pornography, especially the emerging webcam child sex tourism (WCST).

Terre des Hommes, a European anti-child abuse and exploitation group, said the Philippines was emerging as the main, if not the only, supplier of children offering sex to pedophiles on the web.

Hans Guijt, Terre des Hommes Netherlands head of special projects and campaign, said their study of current global WCST situation indicated that the Philippines had a monopoly on the supply side of the emerging illicit “business.”

Guijt headed Terre des Hommes’ “Sweetie” project last year to make contact with online pedophiles all worldwide.

The Sweetie project involved the creation of a computer-generated Filipino girl named Sweetie, who offered sex services to online predators.

The Philippines has a major role in fighting the relatively new but fast growing phenomenon, he added.

The Philippines is emerging as a supplier of children for web cam (camera) sex due to the English language skills of Filipinos, as well as the high accessibility of Internet connectivity nationwide, Guijt said.

Sabile said since the Philippines currently has no capability to effectively identify cyber-pornography content and sites, the NTC circular requiring the installation of carrier-grade monitoring programs to identify and filter out cyber-pornography content is needed.

The NTC is moving towards migration from the current IPV (Internet protocol version) 4 to IPV6 to enable authorities to monitor Internet activity in smaller and specific locations like houses, he added.

It was learned that IP address monitoring can only be done on a barangay, municipality or city.

If a user in a barangay or city enters a cyber-pornography site, the barangay or city’s IP address will register.