Inter-agency body warns vs. AI-aided child exploitation online

A Philippine government inter-agency body urged parents to be restrained in posting pictures of their children on social media as sexual online predators may use these for obscene online content using artificial intelligence.

According to the Council for the Welfare of Children, online predators were using rapidly developing technologies to abuse minors.

"Exercise restraint and, not to scare the public, just to create awareness that online sexual abuse and exploitation materials is really there," explained Council for the Welfare of Children Executive Director Undersecretary Angelo Tapales in Maki Pulido's Tuesday 24 Oras report.

And, because minors use emojis in their online communications, the non-government organization Bahay Tuluyan warned that online sexual predators were also exploiting these emojis in their predations.

 "Dahil sa technology, kadalasan nauuna yan. Tayo, naghahabol. Pero ginagawa namin pinakamabuti para mahabol ang panibagong trends na ito," said Justice Department Undersecretary Nicholas Felix Ty.

"We teach our children also, so that even if we are not guarding them, wala tayo sa bahay, they have that self-discipline not to go to dubious sites," added Tapales.

Physical presence

While recent online developments were distressing, the government also noted a rise in the physical presence of foreign sexual predators in the country.

In 2022, the Immigration Bureau arrested 14 foreign sex offenders. This increased to 171 in 2023.

These offenders were accosted at airports as they tried to enter the country.

However, the BI was worried about pedophiles who were able to slip in because they had not been charged in their home countries.

The BI thus urged the public to be on guard and report these foreign sex offenders to the bureau.

"Alamin natin kung bakit nandoon. Ito ba ay magulang? Ito ba ay kamag-anak? Ano ginagawa nila kung nakikita natin na foreign national? Merong iba't ibang kabataan na kasama sa iba't ibang araw? Medyo magduda na po tayo," said BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval. — DVM, GMA Integrated News