PLDT Inc. and its wireless unit Smart Communications Inc. are blocking more than 100 websites that show school shootings and other acts of extreme violence.
The action is meant to protect users, especially children and young people, from videos that turn real attacks into online entertainment.
“This is something we do not tolerate,” said Butch Jimenez, COO, PLDT. “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.”
PLDT and Smart will block the websites directly through their networks. This means subscribers will no longer be able to open the sites using PLDT or Smart internet services.
The list is not final. PLDT said it will add more websites as they are discovered through its monitoring and information from government agencies, child protection organizations, and parenting communities.
The company did not name the websites or say when all of them would become inaccessible.
“There is no debate to be had here,” Jimenez said. “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.”
