Scam Watch Pilipinas: Social media ban alone won’t make children safer

Scam Watch Pilipinas warned that restricting minors from social media should not become another “ban-ban-ban” approach, saying government must also address weaknesses in platforms and online safety enforcement.

The Senate on Thursday, October 8 approved on third and final reading the SMART KIDS bill, which seeks to restrict minors’ access to high-risk social media and digital platforms. The measure received 16 affirmative votes, one negative vote and no abstentions.

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Senate approves bill banning social media access for minors under 18

“Scam Watch Pilipinas supports stronger protection for children online. No question about that. But another ban-ban-ban approach is not the answer,” the anti-scam advocacy group said.

Scam Watch Pilipinas said children face scams, grooming, cyberbullying, sexual exploitation, harmful content and dangerous algorithms, but banning access without fixing weaknesses in the platforms could simply transfer the burden to users.

The group pointed out that Facebook already imposes a minimum age requirement, yet many minors have found ways around such restrictions by declaring a different birthday, creating another account or using someone else’s account.

“That alone should tell us that an age limit is only as good as its enforcement,” Scam Watch Pilipinas said.

The group called for stronger age-assurance systems, better parental controls, faster removal of harmful and scam content, tougher action against predatory accounts and clearer reporting channels for government, law enforcement and victims.

Scam Watch Pilipinas also cautioned against age-verification systems that could require children to surrender more personal information, saying privacy safeguards must be built into any mechanism adopted under the proposed law.

“We must raise children who can recognize danger, protect themselves and ask for help. A ban alone cannot teach them that,” the group said.

Scam Watch Pilipinas said government should regulate platforms and strengthen child protection but warned against policies that appear tough yet can easily be bypassed.

“Do not just ban children from the digital world. Make the digital world safer for them.”