By Helen Castaño | 08:24 PM September 02, 2026
TAGBILARAN CITY— Bohol 3rd District Representative Alexie Besas-Tutor has proposed banning children aged 15 and below from creating social media accounts as part of efforts to strengthen online protection for minors.
Under Tutor’s proposal, minors aged 16 and 17 would be required to obtain verified parental or guardian consent before creating social media accounts.
She also proposed requiring accounts belonging to 16- and 17-year-olds to have parental controls covering privacy settings, contact with strangers, accessible content, online spending, and screen time.
“The Philippines should set clear age-based rules to protect children on social media and online gaming platforms,” Tutor said.
Tutor said similar safeguards should also apply to online gaming platforms, particularly those that allow children to communicate or play with people they do not know.
Among her concerns are open chat features, user-generated content, contact with strangers, and the possibility of children spending money online without adequate safeguards.
Tutor welcomed commitments from Meta and Roblox to strengthen age verification and parental controls but stressed that children’s online safety should not depend solely on the goodwill of technology companies.
She also called for stronger privacy protections for minors, including restrictions on the collection, analysis, use and sharing of children’s personal data.
“Strangers, predators, violent content, gambling, manipulation and commercial exploitation can now reach children through a phone,” Tutor said.
The lawmaker urged the government to strictly enforce existing laws and child-protection mechanisms while calling on Congress to enact additional legislation to strengthen online safety, particularly for children and young people.
