Telecommunications giant PLDT Inc. and its wireless unit Smart Communications Inc. are blocking access to more than 100 websites that were found to be streaming or hosting videos of school shootings and other acts of violence.

In a statement on Friday, Aug. 21, PLDT said it is promptly restricting access to these sites upon identification to prevent the public, especially children, from being exposed to harmful content online.

PLDT Chief Operating Officer Menardo Jimenez said blocking the sites ensures that PLDT and Smart would not serve as a channel for content that “glorifies violence and puts communities, especially children, at risk.”

"This is something we do not tolerate," said Jimenez. "We have decided to ban these kinds of sites preemptively, as soon as they are discovered.”

The site-blocking is carried out at the network level, meaning access to these sites would become unavailable to all PLDT and Smart subscribers.

PLDT said the list of blocked sites is expected to grow as new sites are identified through its monitoring efforts, as well as in coordination with government agencies and child protection organizations.

Jimenez emphasized that “there is no debate to be had” when considering the need to block these sites that essentially glorify violence as a form of entertainment.

“Content that turns real-world violence into entertainment has no place on our networks and in our society, and we will keep acting decisively every time we find it,” he said.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) recently ordered the Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) to coordinate with social media platforms to take down footage and videos linked to the fatal shooting incident at Ateneo de Zamboanga University.

The PNP wants to ensure that netizens, particularly minors, no longer have access to or the capability to share screenshots or video clips of the incident.

The shooting incident on Aug. 18 left two students dead and nine others wounded.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said the incident may have been influenced by the online game Roblox, which was also linked to the school shooting in Tacloban last June.

Earlier, PLDT said it is open to blocking access to Roblox if the government moves to ban the game over concerns that it could expose children to harmful content, including potential violent extremism.

PLDT said blocking sites linked to school shootings forms part of the company’s ongoing commitment to keeping its networks safe, which includes blocking sites hosting child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

During the first two months of the year, PLDT said it blocked 176,000 attempts to access content linked to the online sexual abuse and exploitation of children.