MANILA, Philippines – In the 20th Congress (2025-2028), there are dozens of bills in the House of Representatives and the Senate seeking to address problems arising from society’s dependence on social media platforms.

These bills touch on the criminalization of disinformation and fake news, fake identities, regulation of children in social media, tech accountability, and the incorporation of social media literacy and education into schools, among other issues.

Here we round them up, and give an overview of what these bills are trying to do.

Bills on fake news, disinformation and false content are the most numerous, with 17 filed in the House and 5 in the Senate.

Next, there are at least 13 House bills tackling the issue of social media use of minors in relation to their mental health, among other concerns. In the Senate, there are 7 similar bills, some seeking an outright ban on minors’ use of social media while some push for “age-appropriate” use.

Meanwhile, the regulation of social media as it pertains to elections looks to be the third most important topic for the House with 10 bills.

Here is a summary of the bills to provide you a baseline picture of how our lawmakers are looking to regulate social media.

Regulating minors’ social media use

The bills seek to establish minimum age requirements for use of social media. They seek social media restrictions on minors, ranging from ages 12 to 18.

For example, House Bill No. 9078 or the “Social Media Regulation for Minors Act” specifically proposes a framework where children under 13 are barred from independent accounts, while verified parental consent is required for those aged 13 to 15.

To enforce these restrictions, platforms must implement age-verification mechanisms from government IDs, to monitoring signals signifying a person’s age.

Beyond age limits, the bills seek to mandate “safety-by-design” standards that require platforms to disable addictive features like infinite scrolling and autoplay, and reduce nighttime notifications for younger users.

The push for social media regulation for minors in the Philippines comes amid a global wave of similar bans following the Australia’s lead in December 2025.

Senate Bill 2017 or the “Safe Media Access and Responsible Technology for Kids in Digital Spaces (Smart Kids) Act,” s the most recently filed bill of this type. It seeks to expand similar age regulatory measures toward platforms beyond social media including websites, mobile applications, online services or digital apps that allow users to create user-generated content or communicate with others or discover content through algorithms or participate in online communities, whether public or private.

Protecting minors through education, parental awareness

The protection of youth is addressed through a combination of proposed mandatory curriculum changes and parental education initiatives.

HB 2745 or the proposed Internet and Social Media Education Act — among at least four House bills and SB 1052 tackling the same topic — states: “All primary and secondary schools, public and private, shall be required to integrate Internet and Social Media Education in their curriculum, specifically on the proper use of the internet and social media, the benefits of prudent use, and the harmful effects of unregulated access and use.”

The risks of online gaming and gambling addiction would also be tackled.

To support this, the government would provide training and skills competency for teachers and empower parents through a mandatory information drive.

HB 4163 is also pushing for the creation of the National Commission for Media Literacy, with members from the Department of Infomation and Communications Technology (DICT), Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and the Department of Education (DepEd), along with media advocates and representatives from media networks, to review the curriculum for social media education, and amend as necessary.

The NCML “will oversee the development and implementation of a standardized curriculum on media literacy across the country. The commission’s role will be to update educational materials and ensure that the curriculum stays relevant in the face of an ever-evolving media landscape, covering both traditional and digital media,” the bill said.

Prioritizing news in social media

SB 1441 or the proposed Social Media Transparency Act of 2025 or has a unique provision proposing to mandate that platforms algorithmically prioritize content from accredited, reputable news agencies over political posts generated by ordinary users, influencers, or unauthenticated pages.

“News content shall have a presumption of credibility and shall be algorithmically prioritized over ordinary political content from unauthenticated users or pages,” the proposed bill said.

To support this, platforms would be required to maintain a registry of “Verified News” sources validated by journalism associations and regulators to ensure that fact-based reporting is not outcompeted by viral misinformation within algorithmic recommendation systems.

The bill seeks to “ensure equal and fair distribution of political content regardless of ideology; protect citizens’ right to access verified and credible journalism; mandate transparency and accountability in algorithmic systems; compel collaboration between social media platforms and fact-checking organizations; and prevent foreign political interference through social networks.”

House Bill 7300 proposes the creation of the Social Media Accountability Council, a multi-agency body including the Department of Information and Communications Technology and the National Privacy Commission, which would oversee annual transparency reports and require platforms to provide detailed descriptions of their ranking algorithms and content moderation processes.

Targeting online anonymity, proposing ‘rigid’ account registration

Under HB 8603 or the proposed Verified Social Media Account Act, every social media account operating in the Philippines would be required to undergo mandatory identity verification through the Philippine ID System or PhilSys. Platforms will be required to validate the identities of their users using government-issued identification cards to ensure that all digital interactions are “traceable” and “secure.”

Platforms that fail to implement these verification mechanisms or allow the activation of unauthenticated accounts would face significant administrative fines and penalties such as operational restrictions.

Criminalizing disinformation

The legislature is also moving to penalize the creation and publication of false or misleading content on personal accounts or fictitious websites.

HB 4562 or the proposed Anti-Fake News and Disinformation Act seeks to define fake news as “false or misleading information presented as fact or news, deliberately and maliciously disseminated to mislead the public, that may sow confusion, incite hatred or violence, or disrupt public order” and disinformation as “false information intentionally spread to deceive, manipulate, or influence public perception, behavior, or policy.”

It provides specific exceptions for clearly labeled satire, parody, and good-faith news reporting, and news with “reasonable verification of sources.”

Under the bill, it would be unlawful to create troll farms, bot networks, and coordinated campaigns spreading fake news, inciting violence and hate speech, discrediting democratic institutions, or causing public panic.

This bill also introduces provisions to penalize “dummy accounts” and mandates that social media platforms designate authorized liaison officers to the DICT to coordinate on rapid takedown requests that may threaten national security or public order.

Penalties include imprisonment from 6 to 12 years, and fines of P500,000 to P2 million.

Under HB 299 or the proposed Anti-False Content on Social Media Act, punishable acts would also include offering services to deceive the public, financing the publication of misleading information, and non-compliance with government-ordered corrective measures.

Special focus on digital threats during elections

HB 8734 or the proposed Artificial Intelligence and Digital Platforms in Elections Act of 2026 seeks the creation of a permanent Digital Election Crimes Unit within the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to monitor digital threats continuously during polling periods.

This unit would be empowered with rapid takedown authority, allowing it to issue mandatory 24-hour orders for high-harm content such as AI-generated deepfakes, false election schedules, or incitements to violence. Proposed prohibited acts during the election season include the use of false amplifiers like bots and troll farms, as well as engaging in coordinated inauthentic behavior intended to manipulate voter behavior.

To ensure financial transparency, the bill proposes all digital platforms that accept payments for electoral ads to have a publicly accessible Political Ad Library. It also pushes for a Digital Literacy and Anti-Disinformation Trust Fund, financed by penalties collected from violators, to support media literacy nationwide, and will be under the DICT, DILG, DepEd, and CHED.

Stricter standards for “online campaign propaganda“

HB 657 or the proposed Internet and Social Media Regulation for Fair Elections Act and HB 7326 or the proposed Social Media, Artificial Intelligence, and Internet Technology Regulation for Fair Elections Act makes “online campaign propaganda” lawful but it will require all candidates and political parties to register their verified official accounts, websites, and blogs with the Comelec within a 30-day filing period where such materials may appear.

The materials also need to be truthful, not misleading, and must not cast doubt on the integrity of the electoral process.

Furthermore, the bills propose a ban on the microtargeting of electoral ads, limiting targeting criteria only to age, gender, and geographical location while mandating clear disclosures on every post identifying who paid for the advertisement.

The regulations also include a proposed “safeguard” that prohibits the government from regulating the legitimate expressions and private opinions of individual citizens who are not part of an official campaign.

Legislative franchises for tech giants

Under HB 4786 or the proposed Social Media Platform Franchise Act, platforms would be required to secure a legislative franchise from Congress to operate legally within the country, a process that includes disclosing corporate structures and content moderation policies. The bill proposes a five-year social media franchise.

HB 934 or the proposed Social Media Platform Franchise Act details that a platform must include in its application its “data privacy, content moderation, and cybersecurity policies” and “measures to prevent fake news, misinformation, and harmful content.”

They will be treated as regulated “public services of significant public consequence.”

To ensure effective enforcement, the bill provides for a “local presence requirement” — platforms must establish a registered legal entity or branch office in the Philippines and designate an official local representative for legal compliance.

A right to skip online ads after 5 seconds

For the regular consumer, HB 7116 or the proposed Skippable Advertisements to Protect Digital Consumers Act seeks to grant users the legal right to skip platform-controlled advertisements that exceed five seconds in length.

Service providers would be prohibited from enforcing unskippable ads beyond this limit or using “dark interface” designs to obstruct a user’s ability to skip marketing content.

These measures are said to be designed to restore a balance between the interests of advertisers and the rights of users to access information without being subjected to coercive or excessive digital exposure. – Rappler.com