The Child Rights Network (CRN) backed the government’s efforts to impose stricter regulations to effectively curb the rising number of cases of online sexual exploitation of children (OSEC) amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Duterte Cabinet announced during a meeting last Jan. 11 that it will review extant laws, rules, and regulations related to addressing OSEC.

The CRN, the largest alliance of organizations and agencies pushing for children’s rights legislation in the Philippines, backed this move but noted that stopping OSEC requires more than just reviewing sanctions against Internet Service Providers (ISPs).

The group believes that a solution against OSEC can be achieved if the government takes the lead and actively enjoins all sectors involved, including ISPs and child rights advocates, in reviewing and amending current statutes.

The CRN cited Republic Act No. 9775, otherwise known as the Anti-Child Pornography Law, because it does not explicitly consider the "often-ephemeral" quality of OSEC committed through the viewing or “live streaming” of online content that does not need the offender to do any act of downloading or retaining any form of child sexual abuse materials. The law also does not include the role of social media in the commission of OSEC.

The same goes for RA 9208 as expanded by RA 10364, or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, CRN said, because it does not specifically address persons who view child sexual abuse materials online. There is also no provision on how ISPs can cooperate with the government in prosecuting offenders.

Some laws should also ensure that technological or other practical safeguards are in place to prevent or detect recruitment and trafficking, and capacity-building among ISP employees and government agents to ensure that they are able to detect the possibility of unlawful activity," the CRN said.

The group also stated that addressing the OSEC situation in the country needs a "holistic approach" that does away with blaming gaps in existing laws and the inaction of government agencies. Instead of playing the blame game, the CRN said that there should be a comprehensive assessment of why such crimes are proliferating in order to ensure that proper interventions are pursued.

Various studies have shown that poverty is the primary reason why parents are trafficking their children online. Poverty is exacerbated by the pandemic, so the CRN recommended that the government beef up its social protection laws, such as the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program.

The CRN enjoined the public to address OSEC with more appropriate terms. "It begins with simple acts, such as refraining from using the term 'child pornography' as such normalizes and enables the concept that children willingly engage in such activities for pay, which is far from the reality that they are always victims of such horrid circumstances,'" the group said.