Senator sounds alarm on groups ‘preying’ on kids

SEN. Ana Theresia "Risa" Hontiveros on Tuesday sounded the alarm over more Facebook public groups that allegedly prey on children.The senator, in a statement, claimed that Facebook groups named "Atabs" and "LF Kuya and Bunso" post images of minors to attract predators.These Facebook groups "even advertise that they also sell children's photos or videos on other messaging apps, such as Telegram," Hontiveros said.Last week, she exposed the "Usapang Diskarte" Facebook page and YouTube channel, which allegedly teaches its subscribers on how to prey on children.After the senator's call to her followers to report the account, both the page and the channel were taken down by Facebook and YouTube, respectively."Nakakasuklam at nakakagalit na may mga taong tahasang nang-aabuso sa ating kabataan (It is disgusting and abominable that there are people who abuse children)," she said."They use Facebook messenger or Telegram to discuss and sell thousands of pictures and videos [of children]," Hontiveros said in Filipino and English.She added, "Some even use cloud storage like Mega because of the big volume [of pictures and videos of children]. As a mother, I worry more for the security of our children on the internet."Hontiveros raised the need to pass an anti-online sexual abuse and exploitation of children law to hold responsible individuals, social media platforms, and internet intermediaries "who allow the spread of such obscenity."