PLDT Inc (PLDT) and its wireless unit Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) boost their efforts to fight online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (OSAEC). In August alone, PLDT and Smart’s Cyber Security Operations Group (CSOG) blocked access to more than 400,000 URLs that host child sexual abuse and exploitation materials (CSAEM).
“PLDT and Smart recognize children not only as key stakeholders, but the very future of our nation. This drives our concerted effort to closely collaborate with like-minded organizations and employ advanced technology solutions to ensure the protection of children and prevent access to illicit child content online,” said Jojo G. Gendrano, SVP and Chief Information Security Officer at PLDT and Smart.
The PLDT Group has invested significantly to develop its pioneering child protection platform that enables it to block illicit child content on the more difficult content level. Complementing this technology, the PLDT Group’s membership to the UK-based Internet Watch Foundation and Project Arachnid of the Canadian Centre for Child Protection (C3P) has expanded the telco group’s threat intelligence sources, enabling its CSOG to identify and block more than 1.4 million links to CSAEM by the end of August.
Going beyond technology and international collaborations, PLDT and Smart have integrated child rights protection into the organization with the pilot of UNICEF’s updated Mobile Operators Child Rights Impact Self-Assessment (MO-CRIA) tool. The MO-CRIA enables PLDT and Smart to fully understand and apply to their operations the challenges, opportunities, and impact of child rights to the conduct of business.
Championing a multi-stakeholder approach to combat OSAEC, the PLDT Group has partnered with industry peers, government offices, law enforcement agencies, fellow child rights advocates from private and public organizations to develop impactful initiatives aimed at protecting children from abuse. PLDT and Smart have also engaged local communities in developing child- and youth-focused programs that allow them to pursue their passions in a safe space.
PLDT and Smart’s initiatives to develop technology that seeks to beat and stamp out OSAEC and advocate for child protection are grounded on their commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goal 16, particularly in ending the abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children.
The PLDT Group’s efforts to bolster its cybersecurity infrastructure underscores its customer-centric ideology that aims to deliver meaningful connections and experiences for its customers to live a fuller life. These initiatives also highlight the Group’s commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals 9 on Industries, Innovation and Infrastructure.
