Proposed social media ban for minors may pose security, privacy risks

A PROPOSED social media ban for Filipinos under 16 years old may do more harm than good and still fail to keep them off the internet, with identity verification requirements also likely to create data governance issues, stakeholders said.

Wayvent Innovations, Inc. President Emmanuel Caguimbal said infrastructure to bypass age restrictions is already a “mainstream reality for the Filipino youth.”

“Filipino youth already use virtual private networks (VPNs) to access geo-restricted games and streaming content. That’s not niche behavior,” Mr. Caguimbal said in a Viber message.

AIFirst Chief Executive Officer Carlo Almendral added that in the days leading up to the implementation of a similar law in Australia, VPN downloads nearly tripled, and three months later, around 70% of under-16 users still maintained their social media accounts.

He warned that the situation would be worse in the Philippines because of the booming mule market for rented and sold IDs used for identity verification purposes.

Information Security Officers Group President Luis A. Jacinto also said that restricting access is “an impractical solution” for preventing real-world violence.

While he noted that VPN costs might be a barrier for some, the ban will ultimately be unable to achieve its intended goals, he said.

They added that with age restrictions, young users will likely just move towards less regulated spaces, which could lead to more dangers.

Proposals to require age and identity verification, which would involve submitting government-issued IDs to private social media companies, could create a “serious data governance problem” as this would widen cybercriminals’ attack surface, Mr. Caguimbal said, citing data leaks involving government agencies.

“Creating a new dataset of national IDs linked to social media accounts… multiplies the attack surface significantly,” he said.

Mr. Jacinto added that this could become a national security issue.

“So long as the government cannot give assurance that this information will be protected and thus, not fall into the wrong hands, this should not happen,” he said. — Juliana Chloe A. Gonzales