Lok Sabha Question No. 320 (STARRED), answered on 2023-03-22
Subject: Access of Children to Obscene Websites
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Vijay Baghel

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO.*320

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 22.3.2023

## ACCESS OF CHILDREN TO OBSCENE WEBSITES

## * 320 † .   SHRI VIJAY BAGHEL:

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

- (a) the measures being taken by the Government to check the easy access to obscene websites through mobile phones and computers throughout the country;
- (b) the percentage of children watching such obscene websites and videos;
- (c)  whether  any  survey  has  been  conducted  by  the  Government  to  understand  the  adverse effects thereof due to the said activities by the children;
- (d) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and
- (e)  whether  the  Government  proposes  to  initiate  any  stringent  measures  to  put  a  check  on such websites and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

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

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN THE REPLY TO LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *320 FOR 22.3.2023 REGARDING ACCESS OF CHILDREN TO OBSCENE WEBSITES

……….

(a) to (e): The policies of the Government are aimed at ensuring an Open, Safe and Trusted and Accountable Internet for its users. With the expansion of the Internet and more and more Indians coming online,  the  number  of  Indians  exposed  to  content  on  the  Internet  has  also  grown.  The many challenges in securing cyberspace also flow from its vastness and borderless nature.

With regard to access to and watching of obscene websites and stringent measures to check the same, it is informed that the Information Technology Act, 2000 ('IT Act') has stringent penalties for  publishing  or  transmission  of  material  containing  sexually  explicit  act  in  electronic  form (section  67A  and  67B)  and  publishing  or  transmitting  of  obscene  material  in  electronic  form (section 67), which are punishable with imprisonment for a period that may extend to three and five  years  respectively  and  which,  as  per  section  77B,  are  cognizable  offences.  As  per  the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, prevention and investigation of cognizable offences is to be done by the police, and as per the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution, 'Police' is a State subject. As such, States are primarily responsible for the prevention, investigation etc. of such offences through State police departments,  which take preventive  and penal action as per law, including in respect of the said offences.

To  help  achieve  the  aim  of  making  Internet  Open,  Safe  and  Trusted  and  Accountable  and  to strengthen  the  mechanism  to  deal  with  such  cybercrimes  in  a  coordinated  manner,the  Central Government,  in  exercise  of  powers  conferred  by  the  IT  Act,  has  made  the  Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. These rules cast specific obligation on intermediaries, including social media intermediaries, to observe due diligence  and  provide  that  if  they  fail  to  observe  such  due  diligence,  they  shall  no  longer  be exempt from their liability under law for third-party information or data or communication link hosted by them. Such due diligence includes the following:

- (i) An intermediary shall make reasonable efforts to cause its user not to to host, display, upload, publish, transmit,  store  or  share,  information  which  is  obscene,  paedophilic  or pornographic, or invasive of another's bodily privacy, or harmful to child or violates any law.
- (ii) The intermediary shall not host, store or publish unlawful information prohibited under law for the time being in force, on a voluntary basis on violation of the above, and on actual  knowledge  upon  receipt  of  a  grievance  or  court  order  or  notice  from  the appropriate government or its agency.
- (iii) The  intermediary  shall  provide,  upon  receipt  of  an  order  from  a  lawfully  authorised government agency, information or assistance for prevention, detection, investigation or prosecution under law.
- (iv) To have in place a grievance redressal machinery, and resolve complaints of violation of the rules within 72 hours of being reported, and in case of a complaint by an individual or  her/his  authorised  representative,  remove  within  24  hours  any  content  which prima facie exposes the private area of such individual, shows such individual in full or partial nudity or shows or depicts such individual in any sexual act or conduct;
- (v) In  case  an  intermediary  is  a  significant  social  media  intermediary  ( i.e. ,  a  social  media intermediary having more than 50 lakh registered users in India), to additionally observe due diligence in terms of appointing a Chief Compliance Officer, a nodal contact person for 24x7 coordination with law enforcement agencies and a Resident Grievance Officer, and  to  endeavour  to  deploy  technology-based  measures,  including  automated  tools  or other mechanisms, to proactively identify information that depicts any act or simulation in any form depicting child sexual abuse or conduct.

To further strengthen the mechanism to deal with such cybercrimes in a coordinated manner, the Government has also taken several other measures, including the following:

- (i) Government  has,  from  time  to  time,  blocked  websites  containing  child  sexual  abuse material (CSAM), based on lists from Interpol received through the Central Bureau of Investigation, India's national nodal agency for Interpol.
- (ii) Government  has  issued  an  order  to  Internet  Service  Providers,  directing  them  to implement Internet Watch Foundation, United Kingdom or Project Arachnid, Canada list of CSAM websites/webpages on a dynamic basis and block access to such web pages or websites.
- (iii) A  memorandum  of  understanding  has  been  signed  between  India's  National  Crime Records  Bureau  and  the  National  Center  for  Missing  and  Exploited  Children  of  the United States of America, for sharing of tipline reports on online child explicit material and child  sexual  exploitation  contents  from  the  said  Center.  The  tip  lines,  as  received from the Center, are shared online with States and Union territories through the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal for further action.
- (iv) In  2018,  Government  directed  Internet  Service  Providers  to  block  827  websites  that hosted pornographic content, following an order by the Uttarakhand High Court.

With regard to the percentage of children watching obscene websites and videos,it is informed that no data in this regard is maintained with the Government.

With  regard  to  understanding  the  adverse  effect  of  such  watching  and  the  Government conducting any survey to understand the same, it is informed that the Government is cognizant of issues in the cyberspace, including those affecting children, and no proposal for any such survey is under consideration of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

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