MANILA— Globe Telecom is putting "digital safety" at the forefront of its esports and gaming programs, as the demand for the industry continues to drive up during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Among their plans is boosting chat moderation in their own gaming social media platforms, particularly through its Facebook gaming and tournament platform GGWP to protect their content creators, gamers, and viewers from toxicity, Globe Games Director of Strategy and Business Development DC Dominguez said in a virtual round-table discussion.

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"We know that there are a lot of issues right now when it comes to gaming such as games addiction. We also have player toxicity inside games, chatrooms among that... These are things that we would like to be on the forefront. These will actually be [used to] build programs that will make it better and safer for all the members of our community," Dominguez said in a virtual presser Friday afternoon.

Globe is also looking out for current trends and checking their platforms against other schemes that will otherwise be negative for their users, Nikko Acosta, Globe Senior Vice President for Content Business, said in the presser.

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"We continue to keep an eye on what's happening, trends-wise, not only for solutions but also what are the new things that will be [negatively affecting] esports and gaming," Acosta said.

Globe has also partnered with various child safety advocacy groups to guard gamers, particularly younger ones against child exploitation and trafficking inside gaming spaces and chatrooms.

"[We have] partnerships to help fight exploitation of our youth especially those who are now growing into the games of esports, livelihood and programs. whether it is for recreation or something more towards the professional careers and education and responsible online behavior," Acosta said.

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Among its partners are the Canadian Center for Child Protection, Safer Kids, UNICEF and Bantay Bata 163.

Globe has also boosted its "Digital Thumbprint Program" as part of its corporate social responsibility to promote safer spaces in the Internet, as the pandemic continues.

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Acosta noted that there are 40 million Filipinos who consumed games, particularly mobile games over the pandemic as a "source of entertainment, an escape, and a social lifeline."

"Whether you are a player or a viewer, casual gamer, or a player that wants to spend a lot of time in making gaming a livelihood in the future, it has become a source of information, entertainment an escape, a lifeline, a connector socially," Acosta said.

Among Globe's other plans is to continue current programs such as tournaments on League of Legends: Wild Rift, League of Legends PC, and shooting game Valorant, made possible thru partnerships with game developer Riot games.

It will also continue to support content creators and players under Team Liyab, and help campus esports organization AcadArena when it comes to honing esports athletes for the future, Acosta said, with the goal of finding esports athletes that will represent the country in the international scene.