PNP to parents: Monitor your kids’ social media usage

MANILA, Philippines — Parents should closely monitor the activities of their children on social media platforms after three young siblings in Sta. Mesa, Manila unwittingly posted a sexually explicit video on TikTok, the police Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) said yesterday.

ACG director Brig. Gen. Ronnie Francis Cariaga said parents should keep a close watch on their children who are using cell phones and other gadgets.

“Parents and guardians should always guide their children, especially when using mobile phones and engaging in online activities,” Cariaga said in a statement.

The ACG official gave the warning after an incident last Aug. 4 wherein three children, an eight-year-old boy and his sisters aged seven and three, were involved in a sensitive video that was uploaded on the short-form video hosting service.

He said the boy recorded using their mother’s mobile phone his seven-year-old sister exposing her private parts while their three-year-old sibling was watching.

The video was uploaded on TikTok using their eldest sister’s account without their parents’ knowledge.

TikTok then alerted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children through the Department of Justice’s cybercrime office about the video, which was taken down from the social media platform.

After they got word of the incident, ACG spokesman Lt. Wallen Mae Arancillo said ACG operatives and social welfare and development workers rescued the children.

According to Arancillo, they have informed the parents of their children’s activity but the parents were unaware that their children took part in a sensitive video.

He said their investigators are studying if criminal cases could be filed against the children’s parents. The city social welfare department is also studying if they are capable of taking care of the children.