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Check out the coverage of BitPinas about the Roblox issue in the Philippines here.
As the threat of a nationwide ban looms heavily over Roblox, Senator Risa Hontiveros is stepping in to propose a legislative approach: a comprehensive Senate investigation aimed at establishing formal regulatory frameworks for online gaming platforms rather than resorting to an outright prohibition.
On Monday, March 23, Hontiveros filed Senate Resolution No. 357, directing the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality to formally investigate the impact of multiplayer virtual environments on child safety. (Read More: Roblox Players Appeal As DICT Gives Game 30 Days to Communicate with Gov’t Before Blanket Ban)
Beyond Roblox: A Broader Industry Issue
While the recent public outcry and ultimatums from the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) have centered heavily on Roblox, Hontiveros’s resolution casts a wider net.
The Senator pointed out that other massive online gaming platforms, including Minecraft, Fortnite, Call of Duty, and Free Fire, enable real-time communication among users, often without reliable mechanisms to verify age or real-world identity.
“Current age verification systems on many platforms rely primarily on self-declaration of age, which is widely recognized as inadequate to protect minors from online predators, impersonation, and harmful content,” Hontiveros stated.
The Goals of the Senate Probe
The investigation aims to aid in the creation of new legislation that mandates strict operational standards for digital platforms in the Philippines. Key areas of focus include:
- Mandatory Age Verification: Moving beyond self-declaration to implement robust age assurance technologies.
- Preventing OSAEC and Grooming: Establishing stronger child protection standards to combat the Online Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children (OSAEC). The Senator noted that predators use in-game chats to build trust before transitioning communications to private, encrypted channels.
- Addressing Violent Radicalization: Creating safeguards against violent content. The resolution highlighted a highly alarming recent incident where authorities foiled a plot by seven teenagers from the Calabarzon region to attack a school using Molotov cocktails and bombs, a plan reportedly inspired by interactions and exposure within online gaming chat environments.
Regulation Over Prohibition
In a statement, Hontiveros emphasized that the goal of the government should be safe integration, not digital isolation.
“Effective regulation of online platforms must balance child protection, digital innovation, and user privacy, and therefore focus on risk-based safety measures rather than outright prohibition of online services,” the senator explained.
She further urged Congress to strengthen digital literacy campaigns and responsible gaming education to address the mental health implications of excessive online gaming.
This legislative push comes as the CICC’s one-month deadline for Roblox to clean up its platform or face a nationwide restriction, including potential delisting from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store in the Philippines, continues to tick down.
This article is published on BitPinas: Sen. Hontiveros Seeks Senate Probe on Roblox, Pushes Regulation Over Ban
Disclosure: AI has been used to assist in writing this story.
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