Telecommunications giant PLDT Inc. and its mobile subsidiary Smart Communications Inc. have initiated network-level restrictions against more than 100 domains identified for streaming or hosting clips of school shootings and graphic violence.
The telecommunications provider announced on Friday, August 21, that it is implementing preemptive blocks as soon as offending platforms are flagged, aiming to safeguard subscribers—particularly young audiences—from dangerous online exposure.
PLDT Chief Operating Officer Menardo “Butch” Jimenez affirmed that the provider will actively prevent its infrastructure from facilitating media that glorifies graphic incidents.
”This is something we do not tolerate,” said Jimenez. “We have decided to ban these kinds of sites preemptively, as soon as they are discovered.”
”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,” he said.
“There is no debate to be had,” Jimenez added.
The domain bans are enforced directly at the network level, immediately cutting off access for all PLDT broadband and Smart mobile users nationwide. The company confirmed that its internal monitoring teams, alongside government agencies and child welfare advocates, will continue expanding the blocklist as additional platforms are uncovered.
The enforcement follows directives from the Philippine National Police (PNP) Anti-Cybercrime Group to collaborate with social media operators in taking down graphic footage associated with the deadly August 18 shooting at Ateneo de Zamboanga University.
Authorities aimed to curb the digital dissemination of screenshots and recordings from the attack, which resulted in two fatalities and left nine others injured.
In the wake of suggestions from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) that digital platforms like Roblox could be influencing youth violence—following a separate campus shooting in Tacloban last June—PLDT reaffirmed its readiness to restrict access to the game if officially mandated by state regulators.
This domain-blocking measure expands PLDT’s existing cybersecurity protocols, which include automated systems to stop online child sexual abuse and exploitation materials (OSAEC).
Within the first two months of the year, the operator successfully intercepted 176,000 access attempts to illegal content.