How to keep children safe online: A step-by-step guide launched

MANILA, Philippines — Parents looking for ways to keep their children safer online have additional resources to do so as guidelines were launched by the Department of Justice's cybercrime division.

Called SAFE, short for Securing All Filipino children from Exposure to harmful online contents, the project features an 18-page guide on how parents or guardians can child-proof mobile technology. 

The project was spearheaded by DOJ's Office of Cybercrime to help parents or guardians manage their children's consumption of online content. It also aims to protect minors from being exposed to inappropriate materials. 

It comes with simple, step-by-step guide for both iPhone and Android smart phones.

The project was established as response to cyber threats and attacks getting increasingly sophisticated, making children an easy target for cybercriminals. 

Last year, the United Nations Children’s Fund commissioned a study on child pornography in the Philippines. 

Results of the study showed that the Philippines has become a haven for child pornographers, with around 80% of Filipino kids at risk of online sexual exploitation and bullying. 

Early this year, the Philippines officially joined the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime, which provides the needed mechanisms to address the threats posed by crimes committed online such as child pornography.

The Philippines is the 57th country party to the convention after President Rodrigo Duterte signed the treaty in December 2016 and with the Senate unanimously concurring to its ratification last February.