PNP orders crackdown on child exploitation in online gaming

Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Police General Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. on Sunday ordered intensified intelligence monitoring of online gaming applications to identify criminal activities and protect children from cyber exploitation.

The directive follows instructions from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to secure digital spaces for minors. Nartatez said the police are specifically targeting platforms with high concentrations of young users, following reports that predators are using interactive features to groom and exploit children.

“Our mandate of serving and protecting the people now encompasses cyberspace to keep them safe, especially for children,” Nartatez said. “This is what modern policing also means, and your PNP has been keeping up.”

The PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group has been tasked with monitoring gaming activities across multiple platforms. The move comes as authorities flagged the popular game Roblox for allegedly being used by predators to reach minors.

Nartatez said the police are coordinating with the Department of Information and Communications Technology and the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) to investigate the extent of illegal activities on the platform, including sexual predation and grooming.

“We will not allow our children to be exposed and exploited in this kind of online environment,” Nartatez said.

The CICC has reportedly given Roblox until the end of the month to explain the safety measures it is implementing for Filipino users.

The PNP stressed that surveillance is not limited to Roblox, as other gaming and social media platforms are also under close observation as part of a broader government effort to secure the internet.