13 Oct 2020 — ECPAT Philippines and the Department of Information and Communications Technology- Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (DICT-CICC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to operate a Philippine INHOPE Hotline. INHOPE is a network of international hotlines that aims to quickly remove child sexual abuse material (CSAM) from the internet. It also retains information that can aid law enforcement investigations on cases of Online Sexual Exploitation of Children.
Based on INHOPE data, most CSAMs accessed in the Philippines are hosted outside the country. With 46 member hotlines worldwide using the ICCAM tool, an advanced and secure system, INHOPE allows easier verification and exchange of reported CSAM between hotlines located in different jurisdictions. Online content can only be removed permanently when taken down from its origin.
The INHOPE Hotline will be the first internet hotline in the Philippines. Through the DICT-CICC, the agency mandated by the Cybercrime Prevention Act to monitor cybercrime cases being handled by relevant law enforcement and prosecution agencies, the Philippines can now triage an efficient response to reports from the public.
