Converge ICT Solutions Inc. has forged a memorandum of agreement with Stairway Foundation Inc., a child rights protection nongovernment organization (NGO), to beef up its efforts in preventing online child abuse.
During a virtual signing ceremony on Tuesday, Converge and Stairway executives highlighted the need to raise awareness about online sexual abuse of children (OSAEC) in the Philippines.
“More than curbing the consumption of OSAEC content, the market for which is the West, we are making strides to ensure the creation of such content is stopped. This is why we partnered with Stairway Foundation, a Philippine NGO promoting children’s rights through awareness, community assistance, and networking,” Converge Strategy Officer Benjamin B. Azada said.
Under their partnership, Stairway and Converge will collaborate in the creation of campaign materials to raise awareness on the high incidence of OSAEC in the country.
“The average age of children first going online is 10 years old. With the basic education continuity plan of DepEd [Department of Education], the number may be much lower. 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,” Stairway Child Protection Specialist Ysrael Diloy said.
Concurrent to the signing event, Converge also launched its own information and awareness campaign called Undo Filter “to enjoin its employees and third-party stakeholders to be vigilant on their children’s activities online.”
“Technology distorts reality through different filters and hides these underground activities. 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,” said Jay-Anne Encarnado, Corporate Communications and Public Relations Director.
“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 ISP.”
Two video materials were released as part of the campaign, portraying potential scenarios of real life situations children find themselves in.
The fiber broadband company has so far blocked 20,000 OSEAC websites on its network, spending over P100 million to upgrade its technology.
The Philippines is considered a “hotbed” for live streaming of child abuse content, many of its patrons are from western countries, according to the Inter-Agency Council Against Child Pornography (IACACP).
The Department of Justice recorded a tripling of OSEAC reports to 1.3 million in 2020 from 2019.
“The Anti-Money Laundering Council also reported that suspicious transactions linked to sexual abuse of children have doubled from P65.8 million in 2019 to P113.1 million in the first half of 2020. This shows that the pandemic created a perfect storm for OSAEC,” said IACACP Chair, Department of Social Welfare and Development Assistant Secretary Glenda Relova.