A message saying that these sites have been blocked in accordance with the Anti-Child Pornography Law loads on screen instead

Published 9:00 PM, January 14, 2017

MANILA, Philippines – Some pornographic websites were blocked in the Philippines as of Saturday, January 14.

Top porn sites like Pornhub, Xvideos, and Redtube do not load anymore when accessed in some devices. It appears, however, that this filter does not yet apply across all Internet service providers (ISPs) in the country.

For affected online users, a message saying, "This website has been ordered blocked under authority of the Philippine Government pursuant to Republic Act 9775 or the Anti-Child Pornography Law" is displayed on screen.

As of this posting, there is neither a list of porn sites that would be blocked, nor a list of ISPs that have implemented this filter.

It is also unclear whether this move is in connection with a memorandum circular issued by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) in 2014.

Through Memorandum Circular No. 01-01-2014, the NTC ordered ISPs to "install available technology, program or software that will block access or filter all websites carrying child pornography materials" within 120 days from the submission of a list of these solutions to the Inter-Agency Council Against Child Pornography (IACACP).

This is in accordance with RA 9775, as well as RA 7925 or the Public Telecom Policy Act of 1995, and Executive Order No. 546 series of 1979 "in order to protect children from child pornography."

The circular also states that the NTC shall "furnish the list of identified pornographic websites provided by the IACACP to the ISPs for immediate blocking of access or filtering."

"The ISPs shall be free from any liability arising from its compliance with any order of the NTC for the immediate blocking of access or filtering of any such websites," it added. – Michael Bueza/Rappler.com