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MANILA, Philippines — Telecommunications companies PLDT Inc., Smart Communications Inc. and Globe Telecom said they will block websites hosting or streaming footage of school shootings and other acts of extreme violence, following the recent fatal shooting at a school in Zamboanga City.
Manuel "Manny" V. Pangilinan-led PLDT said Friday, August 21, that it will block more than 100 websites found to be streaming or hosting footage of school shootings and other acts of extreme violence.
The blocking will also cover the network of its wireless arm, Smart, meaning PLDT and Smart subscribers will no longer be able to access websites identified by the company.
“This is something we do not tolerate,” PLDT Chief Operating Officer Butch Jimenez said.
“We have decided to ban these kinds of sites preemptively, as soon as they are discovered. Our networks will not be used as a channel for content that glorifies violence and puts our communities, especially our children, at risk,” he added.
Jimenez said the company will continue identifying and blocking similar websites through its own monitoring efforts and in coordination with government agencies, child protection organizations and parenting communities.
“There is no debate to be had here, Content that turns real-world violence into entertainment has no place on our networks and in our society, and we will keep acting decisively every time we find it,” he said.
Globe General Counsel Froilan Castelo, meanwhile, said the telecommunications industry has a responsibility to help make the online environment safer, particularly for children and young people.
“We have a responsibility to help make the online environment safer, especially for children and young people. As new risks emerge, we need to keep looking at what more we can do,” Castelo said.
“The recent school shooting incident is one opportunity where the industry can work together by removing sites that induce violence in our networks. At Globe, we are ready to do our part and protect children online,” he added.
Following Zamboanga shooting
The move comes three days after a shooting at Ateneo de Zamboanga University in Zamboanga City, where a 14-year-old student shot and killed another junior high school student before also fatally shooting himself. Two others were wounded.
The incident was livestreamed through the shooter's Facebook account and another website, according to Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla.
It was the second fatal school shooting in the country in less than two months.
In June, three students were killed and at least 20 others were wounded in a shooting at San Jose National High School in Tacloban City, Leyte.
The government has also been looking into whether online games played a role in the two incidents.
In the Zamboanga shooting, Remulla said the shooter may have been influenced by Roblox, although the Department of Information and Communications Technology has yet to establish whether the game played a role. The company behind the gaming platform has been cooperating with authorities.
Following the Tacloban shooting, the government suspended the game GoreBox.
Child protection
PLDT said its latest move is part of its broader child protection and online safety programs, which include blocking websites that host child sexual abuse material.
Globe, for its part, said it blocked 438,446 domains and URLs containing child sexual abuse and exploitation materials in 2025, backed by more than $2.7 million in investments in content filtering and blocking systems.
The telcos said they will continue coordinating with government agencies and local and international organizations as online threats evolve.
PLDT and Smart had also previously said they were prepared to block Roblox on their networks should the government order them to do so.
Nationwide school safety drill
Meanwhile, the Department of Education is set to conduct a nationwide school safety drill on August 25, with teachers, students and personnel simulating how to respond to an “active attack” on campus.
DepEd ordered schools to hold the drill simultaneously at 9 a.m. on Tuesday based on their respective contingency plans for active attack incidents.
The directive was issued on August 12, before the Zamboanga shooting, in response to the increasing occurrence of active shooting and other attack incidents affecting schools and communities worldwide.
Each DepEd regional office was ordered to designate one school as the ceremonial venue for the drill. Education Secretary Sonny Angara is set to join the activity at Carlos F. Gonzales High School in Maguinao, San Rafael, Bulacan.
Other schools are strongly encouraged to conduct their own drills on August 25 or on an adjusted schedule. Schools unable to conduct the drill on the prescribed date must notify their division Disaster Risk Reduction and Management coordinator. — with a report from Cristina Chi
Editor's note: Manuel “Manny” V. Pangilinan is the chairman and CEO of PLDT Inc. A unit under PLDT’s media conglomerate has a majority stake in Philstar Global Corp., which runs Philstar.com. This article was independently produced following editorial guidelines.
