What is BANTAYnet?
BANTAYnet is a Non-Governmental (NGO) and charitable organisation with the purpose of providing FREE education about online safety and Internet savvy to Filipinos. As of January 2023, our content has reached close to 100,000 users on Facebook! These numbers will increase significantly once we publish our content in different Filipino languages, starting with Visayan & Tagalog.
The wide distribution occurs through simplified, accessible & bitesized posts or short videos on Facebook.
BANTAYnet was founded in Cambridge in the United Kingdom in 2020. However, the majority of our Trustees now live in Bohol & Cebu, Philippines. This makes it possible for us to approach local communities & schools where we can teach Online Safety & Internet Savvy in person. With our holistic strategy that involves teaching parents, teachers & students, we will have a maximum impact in sharing our knowledge of Online Safety as widely as possible with the resources we have.
We are just at the beginning of our journey, which is why we are counting on you. With your support you are helping us to create & distribute quality educational content in multiple Filipino languages!
SUCCESS: Official Launch!
Thanks to our Founding Donors who contributed to our online fundraiser in December 2020, we were able to run a successful Launch Week from 31 May – 5 June. By offering daily prizes of PHP 100 & 2 Grand Prizes of PHP 1,000 each worth of mobile phone credit, we were able to attract over 1,500 followers on our Facebook page, and introduce them to the type of bitesized learning BANTAYnet provides about Online Safety.
To enter the prize draw, followers were asked to vote on daily polls, each asking something about their online behaviour. With such overwhelming engagement of up to 400 votes per poll, we have gathered valuable data to assess which topics we need to prioritise when creating our educational content for our followers. Since we want to ensure that BANTAYnet is User-Led, it is very important for us to know what kind of information our online community needs.
Watch this video to get a quick introduction into the concept of BANTAYnet.
Because language
should
not
be a barrier to
Online Safety
&
Internet Savvy
RAHEL PODOBSKY-STUCKI
Founder & President of BANTAYnet
Statistics
The 1st quarter of 2019 saw over 1 million phishing incidents in the Philippines!
(Kaspersky, 2019)
There are 120-175 Filipino languages depending on how they are classified. An estimated 90% of Filipinos speak 1 of the 10 main languages.
(Thinking Machines, 2016)
784,000 is the number of Filipinos living in Modern Slavery. Often vulnerable people are tricked through fake job offers found through the Internet.
(Global Slavery Index, 2018)
Philippines declared as the global hotspot for online sexual exploitation of children.
(UNICEF, 2016)
600,000 “sexualised” photos of Filipino children were bartered and traded in 2018 alone.
(UNICEF, 2020)
Why BANTAYnet?
For All Ages
EVERYONE can learn from our educational content. Digital technology and it's dangers change so fast, there is always something new to learn - whether the first words you wrote were with a feather & a little tub of ink or a smartphone!
Tips & Tricks
How to know if a post is fact or fake, where do you find the things you are looking for on the World Wide Web? We'll teach you loads of handy tips & tricks that will help you become an efficient and savvy Netizen.
Simple & Accessible
BANTAYnet provides simplified, straightforward, and bite-sized content that will pop up as you scroll through your Social Media feed on your device. You can consume and absorb the information casually and in very little time!
Online Safety
There are many potential dangers on the Internet for people who are not aware of them, ranging from the slightly inconvenient to life-endangering. Follow us on Social Media or subscibe to our Newsletter to stay informed.
In Local Languages
You can choose from a broad range of educational content about Online Safety and Internet savvy in English as well as local Filipino languages, starting with Bisaya.
Good Netizenship
Let's make sure we don't accidentally behave like Trolls ourselves! We can accidentally offend or disrespect someone without meaning to or even realising it. We'll show you how this can be avoided.
Team BANTAYnet
Our Team has worked tirelessly to build BANTAYnet, and we can’t wait to get started with producing and delivering our educational content on Online Safety & Internet Savvy to you!
All of us are new at this, so please be patient with us if we don’t get everything right from the getgo. What we may lack in experience, we definitely make up for with our enthusiasm and passion!
Click on the button below if you would like to meet our friendly & dedicated Trustees & Consultants.
How you can help
Social Media
One of the easiest and least time consuming ways to help us out is by simply liking and sharing our content on Social Media. Your simple act of sharing our content will certainly go a long way!!!
Translation
Know a Filipino language and are comfortable with translating from English? If so you might like to be one of our Translation Volunteers.
Fundraising
If you enjoy organising entertaining events such as bake sales, fun-runs or online charity quizzes for example, perhaps you would like to be a Fundraising Volunteer?
Donate
We rely heavily on the generous donations from our supporters. The more financial help we can get, the faster we can expand our services to other Filipino languages!