Protect our AIdentity

Garments | Opinion Writer

Highlights:

• During the Regional Schools Press Conference (RSPC) 2026, Atty. Gilbert M. Flores highlights the Republic Act 1017. 

• According to Atty. Dela Cerna, the internet never forgets.

• Pedophiles Are Using AI To Turn Children’s Social Media
  Photos Into CSAM

I was scrolling through my feed recently when I hit a video that made my blood run cold. A mother, voice trembling, was describing how a deepfake video of her four-year-old daughter, an AI-generated nightmare, had surfaced online. Her child had never left her side, yet her digital likeness had been hijacked. This isn’t a glitch or an online prank. It is a chilling testament that our current laws are bringing a knife to a laser fight.

During the Regional Schools Press Conference (RSPC) 2026, Atty. Gilbert M. Flores highlights the Republic Act 1017. Nowadays, people often use social media to communicate and stay connected with their loved ones, yet it loses its main purpose as this platform can be the main source of crimes that can be bloodier and it is hard to be wept from it. 

 In a generation where cybercrime was seen as a problem but in reality it is a crime. Yet, I observed that our defenses are crumbling. While algorithms mutate faster than we can blink, our data protection laws are stuck in the analog age.

And it petrifies me as Artificial Intelligence would be the ultimate assistant to this dilemma, a platform that is supposed to make our tasks easier. Instead, it’s a legalized invasion. AI has crawled into our phones and our private lives, uninvited and unmonitored. For students, this is particularly fatal. According to Atty. Dela Cerna, the internet never forgets. Every face scan for a fun filter and every whispered word near a smartphone is data being sucked into invisible engines.

Today’s AI doesn’t just collect data, it devours lives. Social media activity, biometric scans, locations, all of it is sucked into invisible engines that monitor us. Even children who are engaged in technology at a young age are not safe. And our consent is buried under unread terms and conditions. Just like the news of the child’s picture used in explicit materials. This is very alarming, our lives are on display for machines, and our government watches, unmoved.
Read More: Pedophiles Are Using AI To Turn Children’s Social Media Photos Into CSAM

Some argue that digital safety is a personal responsibility, that we should just be more careful. But why is the burden of protection passed on the victim rather than the very people who threaten it? We shouldn’t have to cage our freedom because the law refuses to cage the predators. Innovation without accountability isn’t progress, it’s digital tyranny.

What truly kills technological growth is public distrust. Every leaked database and every hijacked identity fuels a fear that will eventually lead us to reject these tools entirely. Regulation doesn’t slow innovation; it saves it.

What kills what we called a lawful progress is the policymakers’ inaction ensures it. Every leaked database fuel suspicion and fear. Regulation doesn’t slow innovation, it saves it secures its future and protects humanity from digital tyranny.

Policymakers, wake up! We need transparency, severe consequences for AI abuse, and the absolute right for citizens to erase their personal data from these learning models. Regulate AI now, before our lives, and our futures are reduced to nothing more than a spreadsheet of exploitable data points.