OPINION: Why it is our fault when kids spread malicious videos online?

Her classmates recorded, maliciously reframed, and disseminated an entirely innocent video of her nodding her head during a typical class interaction. They falsely claimed she was engaging in a lewd act and added a sexually explicit narrative to the video. A few clicks destroyed her reputation.

This is not an isolated instance of high school drama. The Philippines is a horrifying global hotspot for school-level harassment, as confirmed by the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2). Sixty-five percent (65%) of Filipino students experience regular bullying, which is more than twice the global average, according to data.

These days bullying has moved to online platforms due to accessibility, a wider audience for spectacle, cruelty, or a distorted notion of fun. 

The illusions of genz and alpha 

A dangerous disconnect exists between tech-savvy youth and their complete legal ignorance. Generation X and Millennial parents must realize that while children treat the internet as a lawless playground, the state views their smartphones as potential tools for cybercrime. Teenagers incorrectly assume that sharing a leaked clip, typing a defamatory comment, or generating an AI deepfake only risks a school suspension or a deleted social media account.

In the Philippines, it’s a serious crime to use a classmate’s image for a weapon without permission. Uploading altered media with provocative descriptions is classified as online defamation under the Cybercrime Prevention Act (R.A. 10175), which automatically elevates penalties, including prison terms. Besides, the Safe Spaces Act (R.A. 11313) penalizes spreading malicious narratives in the form of gender-based online sexual harassment.

Most disturbing of all is the co-conspirator trap under the Anti-Child Pornography Act (R.A. 9775). Anyone sharing just a link in a group chat or retweeting a sexually malicious video involving a minor can be prosecuted as a distributor. The law states that clicking “forward” can be the equivalent of a non-bailable felony.

The culpability of minor offenders

Under the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act (R.A. 9344), minors aged 15 to 18 are not entitled to an automatic free pass. If they are proven to have acted with discernment—meaning they fully understood the moral and legal ramifications of ruining a peer’s life—they, like adults, can be criminally prosecuted in family court.

Even if they are under the age of criminal responsibility, the law requires intensive intervention programs, including placement in state rehabilitation facilities such as Bahay Pag-Asa. Simultaneously, parents may be held entirely civilly liable, resulting in massive monetary damages for the victim’s family’s psychological trauma and harm.

Parents should emphasize to their children that technology is not a shield. Under Philippine law, the uploader’s legal culpability is absolute, regardless of whether the video is 100% authentic, cropped out of context, or entirely generated by artificial intelligence. The state’s legal framework focuses solely on consent, context, and intent to harm, not technical formatting.

What can be done?

No longer can schools claim “zero-incident” success by sweeping cyber bullying like this under the rug. Strict implementation of the Department of Education’s newly revised implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Anti-Bullying Act of 2013. This approach takes the leniency out of the school, adding rigid centralized reporting structures and penalties for administrators who hide cases.

But the first line of defense starts at the dinner table in the family home. Gen X and Millennial parents must not only manage screen time but also start teaching digital accountability. Kids need to learn that anonymity on the internet is a myth, group chats are public legal documents, and empathy is a mandatory unit of digital IQ.

It’s time to teach our kids that viral destruction of a classmate’s dignity isn’t a joke; it’s a life-altering crime.

READ: