Lok Sabha Question No. 3919 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-19
Subject: Online Abuse of Children
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Goddeti Madhavi, Reddeppa Nallakonda Gari, Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy, Chinta Anuradha, M V V Satyanarayana, Beesetti  Venkata Satyavathi, Adala Prabhakara Reddy, Talari Rangaiah, Chandra Sekhar Bellana

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UN STARRED QUESTION NO.3919

TO BE ANSWERED ON 19.03.2021

## ONLINE ABUSE OF CHILDREN

## 3919. SHRIMATI GODDETI MADHAVI:

SHRI N. REDDEPPA:

SHRI MAGUNTA SREENIVASULUREDDY:

SHRIMATI CHINTA ANURADHA:

SHRI M.V.V. SATYANARAYANA:

DR. BEESETTI VENKATA SATYAVATHI:

SHRI ADALA PRABHAKARA REDDY:

SHRI TALARI RANGAIAH:

SHRI CHANDRA SEKHAR BELLANA

Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) the total number of cases of online child sexual abuse  that  have  been  registered/reported  across  the country;
- (b) whether the Government has proposed to implement  measures  to  improve  the  online  safety  of children in the country; and
- (c) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

- (a) As per information provided by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) the total number of cases registered under Cyber Crime against Children (involving communication  devices  as  medium/target)  during  2019  was  305.  As  informed  by NCRB, the latest data pertains to 2019.
- (b)  &  (c)  The  Protection  of  Children  from  Sexual  Offences  (POCSO)  Act  had  been amended in 2019 to include the definition of child pornography under Section 2(da) and punishment provided under Section 14 and Section 15 of the Act.

Further  the  Government  has  taken  several  steps  to  tackle  cyber  crime  against children. These, inter alia, include :

- i. Provisions to deal with cyber crime against children under Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000. Section 67B of the Act provides stringent punishment  for  publishing, browsing  or  transmitting of material depicting children in sexually explicit act, etc.  in electronic form. Further, sections 354A
2. and  354D of Indian Penal  Code,  1860 provide  punishment for  cyber  bullying and cyber stalking.
- ii. The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 notified under the IT Act, specifies that the intermediaries shall inform the users of computer resource not to host, display, upload, modify, publish, transmit, update or share any information that is, inter alia, obscene, pornographic,  paedophilic,  harms  minor  in  any  way;  violates  any  law  for  the time being in force; etc.
- iii. Government periodically  blocks  the  websites  containing  extreme  child  sexual abuse material (CSAM) based on INTERPOL's 'worst of list' received through Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the national nodal agency for Interpol in India.
- iv. Government  has  issued  an  order  to  concerned  Internet  Service  Providers (ISPs)  to  work  out  a  suitable  arrangement  for  receiving  Internet  Watch Foundation (IWF), UK list of CSAM websites/webpages on a dynamic basis and block access to child pornography webpages/websites.
- v. Department of Telecommunication has requested all Internet Service Providers (ISPs)  to  make  suitable  arrangement  to  spread  awareness  among  their subscribers about the use of parental control filters in the end-user machines through messages of email, invoices, SMS, website, etc.
- vi. Central  Board  of  Secondary  Education  (CBSE)  has  issued  guidelines  on 18.08.2017  to  schools  on  the  safe  and  secure  use  of  Internet.  This  circular directs  schools  to  install  effective  firewalls,  filtering  and  monitoring  software mechanisms in all the computers and deploy effective security policies.
- vii. The  Government  is  implementing  a  comprehensive  central  sector  scheme, namely  'Centre  for  Cyber  Crime  Prevention  against  Women  and  Children (CCPWC)' to handle all issues related to check all cyber-crime against women and children including child pornography.
- viii. National  Cyber  Crime  Reporting  Portal,  www.cybercrime.gov.in  has  been launched  by  the  Government  to  enable  citizens  to  online  report  complaints pertaining  to  all  types  of  cyber  crimes  with  special  focus  on  cyber  crimes against women and children. Complaints reported on this portal are attended by the  respective  Law  Enforcement  Authorities  of  States.  A  nation-wide  helpline number  [155260]  is  also  made  functional  to  help  public  in  filing  complaints through the portal.
- ix. The Government has published a handbook for Adolescents/Students on Cyber Safety, in order to make them aware about various types of cyber crimes and how  to  protect  themselves  from  such  crimes.  The  handbook  is  available  on www.mha.gov.in and www.cybercrime.gov.in. The handbook is also shared on NCERT website by Ministry of Education.
- x. To  strengthen  the  mechanism  to  deal  with  cyber  crimes  in  a  comprehensive and coordinated  manner, the Central Government  has  taken steps for spreading awareness about cyber crimes; issuance of alerts/advisories; capacity  building/  training  of  law  enforcement  personnel/prosecutors/  judicial officers; improving cyber forensic facilities; etc.
- xi. The Government is implementing a scheme of 'Indian Cyber Crime Coordination  Centre  (I4C)'  to  deal  with  cyber  crimes  in   a  coordinated  and comprehensive manner.

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