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Duterte backs banning minors from registering on social media platforms
Philippines
National
Duterte backs banning minors from registering on social media platforms
Duterte backs banning minors from registering on social media platforms
Government urged to regulate social media providers rather than individually prohibit millions of minors from using platforms
Published Aug 19, 2026 04:28 pm
At A Glance
- Vice President Sara Duterte backs a ban on minors registering on social media platforms.
- Duterte says social media providers should be responsible for preventing minors from creating accounts.
- She said regulating platforms would be more practical than individually enforcing a ban on millions of minors.
Vice President Sara Duterte said she supports legislation prohibiting minors from registering on social media platforms, with regulation focused on social media providers. (Photo from Inday Sara Duterte/ Facebook)
Stressing that regulation should be imposed on the platforms themselves, Vice President Sara Duterte on Wednesday, August 19, said she would support legislation prohibiting minors from registering on social media platforms.
Duterte said the government should require social media providers to prevent minors from creating accounts rather than attempting to individually ban millions of young people from using social media.
“Ang pagba-ban kasi dapat nandito sa side ng provider (The ban should be on the provider’s side),” Duterte said in an ambush interview in Zamboanga City, where she visited victims of the recent Zamboanga school shooting.
“So, kung gagawa tayo ng batas, dapat ipagbawal natin sa mga platforms na mag-register yung mga minors doon sa kanila (So, if we make a law, we should prohibit platforms from letting minors register on their services),” she added.
Difficulty of enforcing ban on minors
Duterte recognized that it would be difficult to enforce a prohibition aimed individually at all minors, noting the large number of students in the country.
“Dahil hindi natin magawa na ipagbawal yung paisa-isa sa lahat ng kabataan natin (Because we can't individually enforce a ban on all our youth),” Duterte said.
“You have to remember we have about 25-29 million students in schools,” said Duterte, who is also a former Secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd).
The Vice President said government regulation should instead focus on social media companies.
“So dapat pag-usapan natin o ipasa natin ng batas na ipagbawal ang minors sa social media, doon ang regulation ng government ay doon sa platform (So we should discuss or pass a law banning minors from social media, with government regulation focused on the platform),” Duterte said.
Platforms should block minors from registering
Using Facebook as an example, Duterte said the responsibility should fall on the social media provider to ensure that minors are not allowed to register.
“Sabihin na natin, example lang pinag-usapan natin ang Facebook, dapat yung Facebook mismo, hindi nila pinapapasok yung mga menor de edad” (For example, if we talk about Facebook, Facebook itself shouldn't allow minors to join), she added.
Her remarks came when she was asked whether she supported banning minors from using social media in the aftermath of the school shooting in Zamboanga.
Duterte's proposal would place the primary regulatory responsibility on social media platforms rather than on individual children and their families. She is also pushing for stronger monitoring in schools to help prevent similar incidents.
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