A DEPARTMENT of Justice (DOJ) official has urged parents to closely monitor their children's online activities, warning that gaming platforms can expose minors to harmful ideologies linked to nihilistic violent extremism.
Speaking during the Kapehan sa Dabaw forum on July 2 at SM City Davao, DOJ Regional Prosecution Office-Davao Regional Prosecutor Janet Grace B. Dalisay-Fabrero said parents should not assume their children are safe simply because they are at home playing online games.
"Is it really safe, is it proper and appropriate to guide also our children on the appropriate use of the internet. The internet is very useful, obviously, we would agree on that, but as far as our children are concerned, regulation is the most appropriate thing to do (Is it really safe? Is it proper and appropriate to guide our children on the proper use of the internet? The internet is obviously very useful, and we all agree on that. But when it comes to children, parents need to regulate how they use it)," Fabreo said.
Fabreo said parents often do not know what websites or online communities their children visit while playing games, making it difficult to monitor what they are exposed to.
She urged parents not to wait for a nihilism-related incident before taking action, saying the DOJ is working to raise awareness about the risks associated with unregulated online activity.
Fabreo said children are particularly vulnerable to online influence, adding that some minors who become involved in violent acts cannot be criminally prosecuted because of their age.
She said individuals who groom children are sometimes found on gaming platforms, where online communities promote harmful beliefs and even glorify perpetrators of school violence.
"These children who are engaged online through this gaming platform made them their idol, parang yung ngang grooming doon. This trend has already penetrated the Philippines (Children who spend time on these gaming platforms begin to idolize these individuals. It's similar to grooming, and this trend has already reached the Philippines)," she said.
Fabreo said exposure to such content can influence some children to become violent in school.
Citing a report presented by the Philippine National Police-Regional Alternative Child Care Office during a seminar in Malaysia in May, she said authorities had intercepted 13 nihilism-related cases in the Philippines involving children who were exposed to the ideology through online gaming. None of the cases involved children from the Davao Region.
She added that similar cases have already been reported in neighboring countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia.
Fabreo said the Philippines has no specific law addressing nihilism or penalizing those who groom children into adopting the ideology.
She said the DOJ is studying the possibility of prohibiting violent online games and has formed a technical working group to help craft legislation addressing nihilistic violent extremism.
Earlier, DOJ Undersecretary Nicholas Ty told national media that "Nihilistic Violent Extremism" should be treated as a priority following several violent incidents involving minors, including the killing of three children by fellow students and multiple stabbing incidents in General Trias City and Silang, Cavite.
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation describes nihilistic violent extremism as criminal acts committed for political, social, or religious motives by individuals driven by hatred of society and a desire to bring about its collapse.
According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, nihilism is a philosophy that rejects objective moral truths and holds that life and the universe ultimately have no inherent meaning. RGP
