MANILA — The Department of Information and Communications Technology said on Wednesday the latest X  — the social media site that used to be called Twitter — policy on adult content underscores the importance of having a law that will give the agency more powers to regulate social media.

DICT has been pushing for regulation of social media instead of an outright ban of platforms, including video-sharing platform TikTok.

“This is for us alarming kasi this is also a cultural sensitivity issue... Kailangan talaga ma-regulate na natin yung social media kasi hindi naman porke't — they being a Western brand — think that this is okay...means its okay for us," DICT Undersecretary Jeffrey Ian Dy said.

(This is a cultural sensitivity issue. We really need to regulate social media because just because a Western brand thinks that this is okay, that doesn't mean it is okay for us.)

RELATED: Gov’t reminds social media platforms, telcos of responsibility vs sexual content

The Cybercrime Prevention Act penalizes cybersex, or "any lascivious exhibition of sexual organs or sexual activity, with the aid of a computer system, for favor or consideration."

Dy said the DICT will "monitor this development [and] we will hold them to their promise.... that they will blur images for the general public" and that adult content will only be accessible to adults.

The new X guidelines allow sharing adult content using videos, AI-generated images of cartoon characters as long as they're labeled properly and consensually created and distributed.

The platform says they balance this by restricting exposure to children or users who opted out of viewing such content.

Dy admits that at present, the DICT's hands are tied except when minors are in the images or videos.

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'MEDIA LITERACY MORE IMPORTANT'

Journalism professor Danilo Arao meanwhile said media literacy is more important than than the outright banning of the platform.

"Media education o media literacy ang kailangan nating gawin. Kasi kahit sabihin natin marami kahinaan yung X at ibang social media platform, kapag nag-censor tayo ay delikado 'yan, it could lead to other aspects of censorship,” he said.

(We have to focus on media education or media literacy. Even if we say that X and other social media platforms have weak regulation, it will be dangerous if we censor it because it could lead to other aspects of censorship.)

The National Telecommunications Commission in 2022 ordered telcos to block access to dozens of websites — including alternative news site Bulatlat, where Arao is associate editor — for alleged links to the Communist Party of the Philippines.

READ: 'Collective win': Bulatlat gets court order to stop NTC blocking

“Ang problema dito, pwedeng maabuso. Kasi wala namang problema kung may responsible gatekeeping... Ang talagang makikinabang dito ay yung nagka-capitalize sa pornograpiya bilang isang source ng pinagkakakitaan," he said.

(The problem here is the potential for abuse. There is no problem if there is responsible gatekeeping. It is those who use pornography that make money who will benefit from this.)

Dy and Arao said parents, for now, must monitor their children's use of social media.

“Kailangan nating pahigpitin yung ating parental control...para ma-prohibit natin yung paggamit ng mga menor de edad sa ganitong mga platforms,” Dy said.

(We have to tighten our parental control to prohibit minors from using these platforms.)

Arao meanwhile suggested limiting screen time and keeping children away from X.

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