Globe is strengthening its online safety measures by expanding network-level blocking against harmful and illegal content, including child abuse material, AI-generated abuse content, and websites featuring extreme violence.
The telecommunications company has continued to invest in systems designed to prevent users from accessing dangerous content through its network, with children and teenagers among the key groups the safeguards aim to protect.
Globe said its efforts reflect the changing nature of online threats, as harmful material is increasingly produced and distributed through new technologies and digital platforms.
The company has also expanded its blocking measures beyond traditional forms of illegal content as authorities and online safety organizations respond to emerging risks.
Globe blocks hundreds of thousands of harmful sites
Globe has long used network-level blocking as part of its approach to combating illegal and harmful online content.
Over the past year, the company said it blocked hundreds of thousands of websites associated with child abuse material, strengthening its efforts to prevent access to illegal content through its network.
The company has also invested in more advanced filtering technologies to identify and restrict harmful websites.
This approach places an additional layer of protection at the network level, complementing the safeguards available through individual devices, applications, platforms, and parental controls.
For families, network-level blocking can provide another barrier against content that children may encounter online, particularly as young users spend more time on social media, gaming platforms, messaging services, and other digital services.
Safeguards expand to AI-generated abuse material
One of the more significant changes in Globe’s approach has been its response to the emergence of AI-generated child sexual abuse material.
Since the middle of last year, the company has gone beyond blocking photographic forms of child abuse material to also restrict non-photographic and AI-generated content associated with child sexual exploitation.
The move reflects a growing challenge for online safety stakeholders.
Generative AI has made it easier to create synthetic images and other forms of manipulated content, creating new challenges for organizations working to identify and prevent the distribution of abusive material.
By including AI-generated content within its blocking efforts, Globe is broadening the scope of its network-level safeguards as technology changes the way harmful material can be produced and circulated.
Globe adds blocks on extreme violence
The company’s online safety efforts have also expanded to include websites associated with extreme violence.
Following recent school shooting incidents and directives from Philippine government agencies, Globe said it implemented additional blocks covering hundreds of websites that stream gore or extreme violent content.
The move highlights the growing concern around the accessibility of graphic and violent material online, particularly for children and teenagers.
While the internet provides young people with access to information, education, entertainment, and social connections, unrestricted exposure to extreme content can also create risks for younger users.
The additional blocks are intended to reduce access to websites identified by authorities as presenting serious online safety concerns.
Online safety requires cooperation
Globe’s approach extends beyond its own network.
The company continues to work with government agencies and international organizations to identify and address illegal online content.
Among its partners are the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) and the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, organizations involved in combating child sexual exploitation and promoting safer digital environments.
These partnerships allow telecommunications providers and other stakeholders to share information and strengthen mechanisms for identifying illegal content.
Globe’s continued cooperation with government agencies is also important because certain types of harmful content may require coordinated action across telecommunications networks, online platforms, law enforcement, and child protection organizations.
Technology alone cannot solve online safety risks
Network-level blocking provides another layer of protection, but it is not a complete solution to online safety.
Children and teenagers can access the internet through multiple networks, devices, and platforms, while harmful content can move rapidly between websites and online services.
This makes collaboration among telecommunications companies, technology platforms, government agencies, parents, educators, and online safety organizations important.
Users also play a role in maintaining safer online environments by reporting illegal or harmful content and avoiding suspicious websites and links.
For parents and guardians, additional measures such as device-level parental controls, age-appropriate privacy settings, content filters, and conversations about responsible internet use can complement network-level protections.
Globe says online threats continue to evolve
Atty. Froilan Castelo, Globe’s chief legal officer, said the company sees online safety as an ongoing responsibility.
“We have a duty to make the online world safer for young people and as new threats pop up we keep asking what more we can do working together to pull violent sites off our networks and protect kids online,” Castelo said.
The statement reflects the broader challenge facing telecommunications and technology companies: online threats do not remain static.
As criminals adopt new tools and technologies, safety measures also need to evolve. AI-generated abuse material is one example of how technological advances can create new forms of harmful content that existing safeguards may not have been designed to address.
For Globe, expanding its blocking efforts is part of its broader effort to keep pace with those changes.
Building a safer digital environment
The growing use of the internet by Filipino children and teenagers makes online safety an increasingly important issue for telecommunications providers.
Globe’s latest measures show how network operators can add another layer of protection by restricting access to illegal child abuse material, AI-generated abusive content, and websites associated with extreme violence.
However, keeping young users safe online will require more than blocking websites. Continued cooperation among telecommunications companies, government agencies, technology platforms, international organizations, parents, and communities will remain essential as digital threats evolve.
For Globe, the direction is clear: as harmful content changes, its online safety measures will also need to keep changing to help create a safer digital environment for Filipino youth.
