Philippine Speaker of the House, Faustino Dy III, reporting on the amount of legislative measures passed by the House of Representatives in October 2026. (Philippine House of Representatives)
On October 12, the Philippine lower house or the House of Representatives passed on third and final reading a bill barring children aged 13 and below from creating social media accounts and restricting access for those under 18, with 287 lawmakers voting in favour and three against. The measure, the Safe and Friendly Environment for Kids in Digital Spaces (SAFE KIDS) Act, targets risks including cyberbullying, online grooming, sexual exploitation and exposure to harmful content.
Pasig Representative Roman Romulo, who co-sponsored the bill and chaired its technical working group, said it aims to ensure children’s participation in digital spaces comes with safeguards for their welfare.
The House version now faces reconciliation with a stricter Senate bill. On October 8, senators passed Senate Bill 2424, the Safe Media Access and Responsible Technology for Kids in Digital Spaces (SMART KIDS) Act, which would bar anyone under 18 from social media and other services classified as high risk. The vote was 16 to one, with Senator Robinhood Padilla sponsoring the measure. It would require platforms to block account creation by minors, deploy age-assurance systems and remove or restrict accounts identified as belonging to minors, while foreign platforms would have to appoint local representatives.
Senator Risa Hontiveros opposed an outright ban, arguing that young Filipinos use the platforms to report abuses, stay in contact with relatives abroad and earn supplementary income.
The House named Romulo, Bulacan Representative Agatha Cruz, Bukidnon Representative Audrey Zubiri and Nanay party-list Representative Florabel Yatco to negotiate with the Senate.
The legislation follows three school shootings in the Philippines since June, which revived debate over minors’ exposure to online content, with school gun violence having previously been rare in the country. Indonesia became the first Southeast Asian country to enforce a minimum age when it barred under-16s from social media on March 28, 2026. Malaysia began barring under-16s from registering accounts in June, with platforms required to verify ages against government records by January 2027.
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