PLDT/SMART replies to Fr. Shay Cullen’s Challenge

PLDT/SMART replies to Fr. Shay Cullen’s Challenge

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Rev. Fr. Shay Cullen, SSC
The Manila Times

12 June 2020

Dear Fr. Cullen,

In your article in The Manila Times entitled “Child Abuse over the Internet,” you asked “why ISPs such as PLDT/Smart and Globe have not installed detection software to block the uploading and downloading of child pornography and online live-streaming of sexual abuse of children?”

The short answer to your question is that the ISPs in the country, including PLDT and Smart, have in fact proposed a solution to address that requirement of Republic Act 9775.

We have been suggesting that the government consider the use of a technology solution developed by Microsoft for this purpose. And during a meeting with the Department of Justice (DOJ) last March 2020, it was agreed that Microsoft would be invited to a follow up meeting between the DOJ, the ISPs and other stakeholders.

Unfortunately, that meeting has not pushed through because of the COVID pandemic. Given what has happened since the lockdown, this discussion should be resumed as soon as possible.

We proposed the use of this technology solution because it has been applied in other countries with positive results. And we want to find a solution that works – because we share your profound concern about this very serious problem that now afflicts Filipino children.

Meantime, in the case of PLDT and Smart, we are continuing our other activities to help stop child pornography – working on our own and in partnership with law enforcement agencies and various government and non-governmental organizations.

For example, our Cyber Security Operations Group (CSOG) has been actively identifying and blocking child pornography websites (at the domain-level) when informed by law enforcement agencies like the NBI and the PNP. CSOG also alerts the global internet platform services when it detects child pornographic material being live-streamed on these platforms.

PLDT and Smart have also provided connectivity and technical assistance to enable services for the quick reporting of cases of online sex exploitation of children (OSEC). This is the 7444-64 END OSEC Text Hotline which was set up by the PNP Women and Children Protection Center and the International Justice Mission.

We are also conducting education campaigns, particularly in communities that have been identified by authorities to be hot spots for child abuse and child pornography. For example, Smart has been conducting Cyber Smart Learning Caravans for school teachers in affected communities to provide training on cyber-security and child protection practices. For these activities, we have partnered with UNICEF.

Clearly, much more has to be done. And to do that, some difficult technical and legal issues that have hampered the fight against child exploitation need to be addressed.

For example, at this point, it is not possible for ISPs to selectively block bad content being live-streamed via global internet platforms. If Philippine ISPs attempt to do this, the entire global internet platform will be blocked. Effective control is in the hands of these global internet platforms, not the ISPs. To address this problem, better coordination has to be established between the government, the ISPs and the global internet platforms.

Also, there is an urgent need to resolve ambiguities and contradictions of existing laws.

The law that you cited in your article is a case in point. Section 9 of RA 9775 says that ISPs are required to monitor the content passing through their servers, notify the police of illegal content and provide the authorities the particulars of users who gained or attempted to gain access to an internet address which contains any form of child pornography.

That same section of the law states that “Nothing in this section may be construed to require an ISP to engage in the monitoring of any user, subscriber or customer, of the content of any communication of such person.”

In layman’s terms, this sounds like saying: 1) open up all the emails, social media posts, video conversations and live stream content of customers using your network; but, 2) do not violate the privacy of their communications and their data privacy – which are protected by other existing laws of the Republic. How do we reconcile these two statements? We are quite mindful that this question concerns serious legal and social issues, not just legal technicalities.

That is precisely why the ISP community has been in consultations with the DOJ and other concerned government agencies and we remain hopeful that effective solutions to these issues will be found.

Meantime, we would like to assure you that we at PLDT and Smart are committed to fighting this menace that is preying on our children. And that we are working with all like-minded organizations and institutions – and with our customers and the public – to contain and stop this virulent pandemic.

Respectfully yours,

 

Mon Isberto
Head of Public Affairs
PLDT and Smart Communications