MANILA — Senator Loren Legarda has filed a measure seeking to impose a minimum age requirement of 16 years old for users of certain social media platforms as concerns grow over children’s exposure to harmful online content and digital abuse.

Senate Bill No. 1955, or the “Children’s Safety in Social Media Act,” aims to require covered age-restricted social media platforms to prevent underage users from creating and maintaining accounts.

According to Legarda, the proposal seeks to address risks faced by minors online, including cyberbullying, misinformation, harmful content, and compulsive social media use.

“Social media has transformed how Filipinos learn, communicate, and participate in public life. It can inform and inspire, but it can also mislead, overwhelm, and harm,” she said.

Under the proposed measure, social media platform providers would bear the primary responsibility of implementing “reasonable, proportionate, and privacy-preserving” measures to enforce age restrictions, instead of placing the burden on children, parents, or schools.

“Our children deserve that same protection now, in spaces where algorithms shape what they see, what they believe, and how they behave,” Legarda added.

The bill also includes provisions aimed at protecting freedom of expression, stressing that regulations should remain lawful, necessary, and proportionate.

“While freedom of expression remains a cornerstone of our democratic life, it must be exercised within the bounds of law and with due regard for the rights of others,” she said.

The proposed legislation further requires compliance with the Data Privacy Act of 2012 by mandating data minimization practices and prohibiting government-issued IDs from being used as the sole method for age verification.

“Protecting children online requires enforceable duties for platforms and a framework that remains consistent with constitutional freedoms,” Legarda said.

Aside from platform regulation, the measure also promotes digital citizenship and media and information literacy programs in schools, parental guidance tools, and clearer platform safety options.

The bill also seeks to establish an Inter-Agency Council headed by the Department of Information and Communications Technology, together with the National Privacy Commission, National Telecommunications Commission, Department of Education, Department of Social Welfare and Development, and Department of Justice, to address online harms affecting children.

“It takes a village to raise a child, and it likewise takes a whole-of-society framework to protect children in digital spaces shaped by rapidly evolving technologies,” she said.

The measure is currently pending before the Senate Committee on Public Information and Mass Media, with secondary referrals to the Committees on Science and Technology and Finance.