IWF to work alongside Philippine telecom giant to fight child sexual abuse on the internet

A new partnership will help keep children safe across the world as a major telecoms provider joins the fight against online child sexual abuse material.

Philippine telecoms giant PLDT Inc. (PLDT) and its wireless unit Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) have joined the UK-based Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) as members.

PLDT, one of the Philippines’ largest telecommunications providers, will now be able to use IWF services to keep their networks clear, like the IWF’s URL List.

IWF Members can use this list to block access to webpages analysts have identified as containing images or videos of child sexual abuse while the IWF works to have them removed from the internet.

PLDT and Smart Chief information Security Officer Angel Redoble said: “We’re now part of a bigger community that shares information on child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) that are spread across the Internet. We have access to IWF’s rich database of websites that host these illegal materials.

“This will be integrated into our own child protection platform to prevent further exposure of our children and customers to these illicit contents.”

Mr Redoble added: “While we are mandated to secure our system, network, and data assets, we should also protect our children because they are our future.

“That’s why we pushed for membership with IWF so we can build on opportunities to work with and learn from the world’s best in safeguarding children and customers on the internet.”

Susie Hargreaves OBE, Chief Executive of the IWF, said: “The issue is a global one, and this is why it is so important for us to work with partners around the world to make sure children are safe, and that criminals have nowhere to go to share images and videos of the abuse and suffering of children.

“The children in the images and videos our analysts see are real children. Every time their abuse is shared online, they are made victims all over again. Working together like this will help make a real difference to victims’ lives.”

PLDT joins the IWF at a critical time. In 2020, IWF analysts dealt with a record number of reports of online child sexual abuse material, while the coronavirus crisis sees more people than ever relying on the internet to learn, work, and socialise.

Find out more about becoming a Member and the services the IWF can provide here https://www.iwf.org.uk/our-services

Images and videos of online child sexual abuse can be reported anonymously at https://report.iwf.org.uk/en

 The public is given this advice when making a report:

• Do report images and videos of child sexual abuse to the IWF to be removed. Reports to the IWF are anonymous.
• Do provide the exact URL where child sexual abuse images are located.
• Don’t report other harmful content – you can find details of other agencies to report to on the IWF’s website.
• Do report to the police if you are concerned about a child’s welfare,
• Do report only once for each web address – or URL. Repeat reporting of the same URL isn’t needed and wastes analysts’ time.
• Do report non-photographic visual depictions of the sexual abuse of children, such as computer-generated images. Anything of this nature, which is also hosted in the UK, the IWF can get removed.