Converge and Stairway Work Together to Create a Safer Online Space for Children

A memorandum of agreement (MOA) was recently signed between telecommunications service provider Converge ICT Solutions Inc. and child care non-profit organization Stairway Foundation on February 22. The MOA is geared to inhibit the growing risk of online sexual abuse of children (OSAEC).

Child Protection Specialist at Stairway Foundation Ysrael Diloy notes that Filipino children begin going online at 10 years old on average. This number may prove to be much lower given the Department of Education’s (DepEd) basic education continuity plan. “They spend an average of two hours online. The internet is very much ingrained into children’s lives today and we have to be aware of the greater risk involved,” added Diloy.

Jay-Anne Encarnado, Corporate Communications and Public Relations Director at Converge, echoes similar sentiments. “Technology distorts reality through different filters and hides these underground activities (like OSAEC).” Encarnado goes on to elaborate that “while Converge is an advocate of the benefits of technology, we know there are downsides as well. Instead of the internet being used for the education and development of our children, it is being used by criminals to exploit and profit off of them.”

Converge has also been bolstering its security measures in an effort to better filter sites that host imagery and videos of sexual abuse of children. Since then, at least 20,000 websites have been blocked by the fiber broadband provider. “With this campaign, we encourage everyone to go deeper into what goes on in your child’s online world, and be proactive in reporting incidents to authorities, or to us, the Internet Service Provider (ISP),” said Encarnado.

Additionally, Converge has invested over ₱100 million on technological upgrades to continue to block OSAEC, according to Chief Technology Officer Ronald Brusola. The Philippines has proven to be a hotspot for content relating to online child abuse, which mainly caters to Western countries. Based on findings by the Department of Justice’s cybercrime office, reports of OSAEC reached 1.3 million in 2020 — triple the amount from 2019.

“The pandemic created a perfect storm for OSAEC,” affirmed DSWD Assistant Secretary Glenda Relova who also serves as the Inter-Agency Council Against Child Pornography (IACACP) Chair. “The Anti-Money Laundering Council also reported that suspicious transactions linked to sexual abuse of children has doubled from P 65.8 million in 2019 to P 113.1 million in the first half of 2020.”

Converge understands the role that ISPs play in identifying OSAEC cases. It has committed to continue engaging with government and non-profit organizations to combat sites that harbor malicious content and to help prosecute the individuals involved. “This is not just a trend, it’s a reality. And we can’t do it alone, we need the help of the public to put a stop to this” urged IACACP Secretariat and DSWD Social Welfare Officer Christian Bioc.

Source: Manila Bulletin