IS there any way to regulate the use of the Internet? While parents can, with a lot of effort, monitor and redirect their children?s online habits, the Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication (AIJC) has a few suggestions on how to turn this many-headed hydra into an accessible and equitable tool for information, and less of a threat to young impressionable minds. The list includes policy options and action programs.

1 The Philippines should adopt a Universal Internet Access Policy, which means that all individuals should have access to an Internet connection.

2 The Commission on ICT and local government units should set up more Community e-Centers in remote and marginalized communities.

3 Telecommunication companies should invest in and set up community e-centers in remote communities as part of their corporate social responsibility.

4 The government and the private sector should provide grants for the development of online content appropriate for child development.

5 Congress and the Senate should enact a Right to Information Law that will lay down policies meant to eliminate all forms of barriers to access to information.

6 Lawmakers should also work for the immediate passage of a law that defines what constitutes child pornography and child abuse in various media format or platforms.

7 Lawmakers should pass legislation similar to the Children?s Online Privacy Protection Act in the US that requires websites to give parents notice about data collection practices and provides them access and opportunity to limit any further use of collected information.

8 Public Internet cafes should consider separating the children?s computer area from that of adults. Partitions can help avoid the inadvertent viewing among children of objectionable content from adult computers.

9 The associations of Internet cafe owners should adopt a Code of Conduct that contains provisions which explicitly protect and promote child rights.

10 Internet cafes and other public access points should install filter software.

11 Businesses engaged in online marketing should strictly adhere to the Internet and Mobile Advertising Code of Ethics adopted by the Internet and Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines.

12 The Department of Education and other agencies should mobilize their resources to invest in computers with Internet connection to help public school children gain more access to the Net and improve their computer literacy skills.

13 Schools, NGOs and government information agencies can develop modules on media and information literacy to help develop critical awareness among media users. Such modules should enable users to identify content that has technical quality and contains appropriate values and behavior. They should also include skills that enable children to become responsible and ethical media producers.

14 There is a need to educate children on copyright, especially since they seem oblivious of this ownership clause in downloading and sharing electronic content. ?