Lok Sabha Question No. 248 (STARRED), answered on 2020-03-11
Subject: Child Abuse on Internet
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Jagdambika Pal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.*248

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 11.03.2020

## CHILD ABUSE ON INTERNET

## *248.     SHRI JAGDAMBIKA PAL:

Will the Minister of Electronics & Information Technology be pleased to state:-

- (a)     the total number of cases of child abuse on the internet reported in the country during each of the last three years, State/UT-wise;
- (b)     whether the Government has taken any steps to ensure safety of children on the internet; and
- (c)     if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

MINISTER FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

- (a) to (c): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *248 FOR 11-03-2020 REGARDING CHILD ABUSE ON INTERNET

........

(a):    National  Crime  Records  Bureau  (NCRB),  Ministry  of  Home  Affairs  started  collecting  data  for cybercrimes  (involving  computer  as  medium/  target)  against  children  since  2017.  As  per  the  data maintained by NCRB, a total of 88 and 232 cases of cybercrime against children were registered during the year 2017 and 2018 respectively. This includes cases pertaining to Cyber Blackmailing/Threatening/Harassment, Fake profile, Cyber Pornography, Cyber Stalking etc. Latest data pertains to the year 2018. The details of cases is placed at Annexure.

- (b) and (c):   Government has taken the several steps to tackle cyber crime against women and children. These, inter alia , include :
- (i) The  Information  Technology  (IT)  Act,  2000  has  provisions  to  deal  with  cyber  crime  against children.  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  and  354D  of  Indian  Penal  Code,  1860  provide  punishment  for  cyber bullying and cyber stalking.
- (ii) The Information Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines) Rules, 2011 notified under section 79 of 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) Further, section 14 and section 15 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 provide for stringent punishment for using child for pornographic purposes, and for storage of pornographic material involving child  respectively.
- (iv) 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.
- (v) 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.
- (vi) DoT 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.
- (vii) 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.
- (viii) Ministry  of  Home  Affairs  (MHA)  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.
- (ix) National  Cyber  Crime  Reporting  Portal,  www.cybercrime.gov.in  has  been  launched  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.
- (x) National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has published a booklet on 'Child Victims  of  Cyber  Crime  -  Legal  Tool  Kit'  as  a  guide  for  investigating  officers  for  better understanding of the cyber crime related laws in simple language.
- (xi) POCSO E-box portal by NCPCR was opened for reporting of cyber crime targeting children and also to handle cyber bullying, cyber stalking, morphing of images and child pornography.  The EBox is also available as mobile app at Google/Apple Play Store.
- (xii) Government  has  finalized  a  new  scheme  for  setting  up  of  1023  Fast  Track  Special  Courts ( FTSCs),  which  include  389  exclusive  POCSO  Courts,  for  speedy  trial  and  disposal  of  cases relating to rape and POCSO Act and in September 2019 has communicated to State Governments and Union Territory administrations to open FTSCs including exclusive POCSO courts.  The first instalment  of  central  share  of  funds  has  been  released  to  27  States/UTs  for  setting  up  of  649 FTSCs  which  includes  363  exclusive  POCSO  courts.  As  per  information  received  from  High Courts, 195 such FTSCs have been established.

********

## Cyber Crimes against Children (State/UT-wise) - In 2017 & 2018

## Annexure

| S. No.   | State /UT        |   Total Cyber crimes against Children 2017 |   Total Cyber crimes against Children 2018 |
|----------|------------------|--------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|
| 1        | AndhraPradesh    |                                          1 |                                         12 |
| 2        | ArunachalPradesh |                                          0 |                                          0 |
| 3        | Assam            |                                          1 |                                          9 |
| 4        | Bihar            |                                          0 |                                          0 |
| 5        | Chhattisgarh     |                                          4 |                                          7 |
| 6        | Goa              |                                          2 |                                          2 |
| 7        | Gujarat          |                                          4 |                                         12 |
| 8        | Haryana          |                                          0 |                                          1 |
| 9        | HimachalPradesh  |                                          1 |                                          2 |
| 10       | Jammu&Kashmir    |                                          1 |                                          0 |
| 11       | Jharkhand        |                                          0 |                                          0 |
| 12       | Karnataka        |                                          0 |                                         25 |
| 13       | Kerala           |                                          0 |                                         25 |
| 14       | MadhyaPradesh    |                                          5 |                                         15 |
| 15       | Maharashtra      |                                         27 |                                         57 |
| 16       | Manipur          |                                          2 |                                          0 |
| 17       | Meghalaya        |                                          0 |                                          1 |
| 18       | Mizoram          |                                          0 |                                          0 |
| 19       | Nagaland         |                                          0 |                                          0 |
| 20       | Odisha           |                                          0 |                                          7 |
| 21       | Punjab           |                                          4 |                                          5 |
| 22       | Rajasthan        |                                          6 |                                          2 |
| 23       | Sikkim           |                                          0 |                                          1 |
| 24       | TamilNadu        |                                          3 |                                          5 |
| 25       | Telangana        |                                          0 |                                          2 |
| 26       | Tripura          |                                          0 |                                          1 |
| 27       | UttarPradesh     |                                          3 |                                         27 |
| 28       | Uttarakhand      |                                          0 |                                          2 |
| 29       | WestBengal       |                                         19 |                                          5 |
|          | TOTAL STATE(S)   |                                         83 |                                        225 |

| 1   | A&NIslands           |   0 |   1 |
|-----|----------------------|-----|-----|
| 2   | Chandigarh           |   0 |   0 |
| 3   | D&NHaveli            |   0 |   0 |
| 4   | Daman&Diu            |   0 |   0 |
| 5   | Delhi                |   5 |   6 |
| 6   | Lakshadweep          |   0 |   0 |
| 7   | Puducherry           |   0 |   0 |
|     | TOTAL UTs            |   5 |   7 |
|     | Total States And Uts |  88 | 232 |

Note:   based on NCRB Crime Statistics Report 2017 and 2018