Social media ban for kids under 13 proposed by Speaker Dy, Sandro Marcos

A bill prohibiting children aged 13 and below from using social media accounts has been filed in the House of Representatives.

The bill also imposes a P50 million fine on social media platforms with insufficient online child safety standards, such as age verification, parental controls, and safeguards against harmful content.

Speaker Faustino “Bojie” Dy III and House Majority Leader Ferdinand Alexander “Sandro” Marcos made the proposal under House Bill 9965 or the Children’s Social Media Safety Act, which was filed eight days after the shooting in a school in Tacloban City that involved minor gunmen aged 15 and 14.

The incident left three children dead and 20 others injured.

“At its core, this bill recognizes that every child deserves a safe environment to grow, learn, and develop free from harm both in the physical and digital world. This bill adopts a clear age-based regulatory framework by imposing an absolute prohibition on the use of social media by children below 13 years of age, recognizing their heightened vulnerability and limited capacity to navigate digital risks,” the bill's explanatory note read.

“The measure seeks to establish the country’s first comprehensive regulatory framework governing children’s access to and use of social media platforms while promoting responsible, age-appropriate digital engagement through stronger safeguards, greater platform accountability, enhanced parental supervision, and digital literacy,” the bill added.

The measure also mandates social media platforms implement reliable age verification systems, immediately disable prohibited accounts upon discovery, and adopt safeguards to prevent children from repeatedly creating new accounts to evade the prohibition.The same bill also provides that for children aged 13 to below 17, social media access would only be allowed with verifiable parental or guardian consent and active, continuous supervision.

Likewise, social media platforms will be required to periodically re-verify users’ age and parental consent, while automatically restricting or suspending access once such consent is withdrawn.

Further, the bill requires social media companies to provide parents and guardians with tools to supervise their children’s accounts, monitor online activity and interactions, access privacy settings, set screen time limits and breaks, and withdraw consent whenever necessary.

Ultimately, the bill also mandates online platforms to apply the highest privacy and safety settings by default for child users, restrict geolocation sharing and financial transactions by minors, preve