Senate OKs bill to include AI in Safe Spaces Act

January 14, 2025 , 06:37 PM

By Clarist Mae Zablan

Trigger warning: This article mentions sexual abuse and harassment.

(January 14, 2025) – The Senate on Tuesday approved on third and final reading a bill aimed at penalizing gender-based online sexual harassment involving artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies, amid concerns on the rise of deepfakes on social media.

With 23 affirmative votes with zero opposition or abstention, the upper chamber passed Senate BIll No. 2897 aimed at expanding the definition of gender-based harassment under Republic Act (RA) No. 11313, also called “Safe Spaces Act.”

Sen. Risa Hontiveros, the bill’s sponsor, said the measure “responds to the urgent calls by our constituents, particularly young women in schools, to reform the law in order to better address their lived realities.”

“When we made the current law (Safe Spaces Act), no one knew what AI was. Today, deepfakes are chronic and pornography is being created with the use of these emerging technologies,” Hontiveros said in a news release.

Sen. Loren Legarda, a co-sponsor of the bill, said the measure would “breathe new strength” into the Safe Spaces Act.

“With this amendment, we draw a definition line: predators, whether lurking in physical proximity or hiding behind digital veils, will not escape the vigilance of the law,” she said.

The bill proposed that internet intermediaries must block or take down web pages or content that violates the Safe Spaces Act within 24 hours after notice from authorities. They must also preserve information on these content by at least six months or during pendency of the case.

Also under the measure is a proposal to expand the definition of public spaces to include streets and alleys in rural areas, fields, farms, coastal areas, and multi-purpose halls.

The bill also proposed harsher penalties for gender-based harassment in the workplace. Offenders may face one to six months of imprisonment or a fine of P10,000 to P100,000.

Further, the bill seeks to define grooming, which refers to when a parent, guardian, or caregiver establish a relationship with a child for the purpose of sexual abuse or exploitation.

(CD | With reports from Maeanne Los Baños-Oroceo, News5)

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