Lok Sabha Question No. 2300 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-12-10
Subject: Child Pornography
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Shashi Tharoor

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2300

TO BE ANSWERED ON 10.12.2021

## CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

## 2300. DR. SHASHI THAROOR:

- (a) Whether there has been a rise in the prevalence of child pornography material during  the  COVID-19  pandemic  and  if  so,  the  reaction  of  the  Government thereto;
- (b) Whether  unrelated  to  the  pandemic,  India  has  been  witnessing  a  rise  in  the convictions  for  child  pornography  in  the  past  two  years  and  if  so,  the  details thereof;
- (c) Whether  the  Government  has  initiated  any  awareness  campaign  to  fight  this scourge and spread information about its dissemination and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) Whether his Ministry has taken any steps to combat the spread of information on the 'dark web' and curb its use and if so, the details thereof;
- (e) Whether  the  Government  has  identified  any  platforms  that  are  used  for  the dissemination  of  child  pornography  and  introduced  any  restrictions  on  the same; and
- (f) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

- (a)  & (b)   As per the data provided by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the State/UT-wise Cases Registered(CR), Cases Charge sheeted(CCS), Cases Convicted(CON), Cases in which Trials Completed (CTC), Conviction Rate (CVR), Persons Arrested(PAR), Persons Charge sheeted(PCS) and Persons Convicted(PCV)  under  Cyber  Pornography/Hosting  or  Publishing  Obscene  Sexual Materials depicting children under Cyber Crimes against Children during 2018-2020 is at Annexure.
- (c) Government has taken the following steps to tackle crime against children:
- (i)     Section  67B  of  the  Information  Technology  (IT)  Act,  2000  provides  stringent punishment for publishing, transmitting or viewing Child sexual abuse material online.
- (ii)    The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 empower the users of Intermediaries and makes the social media platforms accountable for their safety. The Rules require the intermediaries to adopt a robust grievance redressal mechanism including timebound disposal of grievances. The Intermediaries need to convey their terms

and conditions which must include communication to users  not to host, display, upload, modify, publish, transmit, update or share any information that is inter alia harmful, defamatory, obscene, invasive of another's privacy, harm minors in  any  way  or  are  otherwise  unlawful.   Intermediaries  are  also  expected  to remove any information violative  of  any  law in  India  as  and  when  brought  to their  knowledge  either  through  a  court  order  or  through  a  notice  by  an appropriate  government  or  its  authorised  agency.  The  Rules  also  require Significant Social media Intermediary (SSMI) to endeavour to deploy technology based measures to proactively identify child sexual abuse material.

- (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)  ordering  them  to  implement   Internet  Watch  Foundation  (IWF),  UK  or Project Arachnid, Canada list of CSAM websites/webpages on a dynamic basis and block access to such child pornography webpages/websites.
- (v)    MeitY through a program, namely, Information Security Education & Awareness (ISEA),  has  been  creating  awareness  among  users  including  women  and children  highlighting  the  importance  of  digital  safety  while  using  Internet.  A dedicated website for information security awareness (https://www.infosecawareness.in) provides relevant awareness material.
- (vi)  The  National  Commission  for  Protection  of  Child  (NCPCR)  has  developed information, education and communication (IEC) material to support the Centre and  State  Government  for  dissemination  of  information  and  awareness  on POCSO Act 2012. It is also available on the website of NCPCR. Since March, 2020, NCPCR  has organized different online programs of awareness generation on various aspects of Child sexual abuse and POCSO Act through consultations, webinars, etc.

(d) to (f) The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO)   Act,   2012   was   enacted   to   Protect   the   Children   from   Offences   of Sexual   Assault,   Sexual   harassment   and   pornography   with   due   regard   for safeguarding the interest and well being of children. The POCSO) Act was amended in  2019   to   include   the   definition   of   child   pornography   under   Section   2(da). Further,  Section  14  of  the  Act  provides  for  strict  punishment  for  using  child  for pornographic purposes  and  Section  15  prescribes punishment  for storing or possessing of pornographic material involving child  for  transmitting  or propagating or  displaying  or  distributing  in  any  manner  at  any  time  except  for  the  purpose  of reporting or for use as evidence in the Court.

Further, The Information Technology Act, 2000 also provides a legal framework for addressing all types of prevailing cyber crimes as reported in the country

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## THE STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (A) to (B) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2300 regarding 'Child Pornography' BY DR. SHASHI THAROOR  TO BE ANSWERED ON 10.12.2021

State/UT-wise Cases Registered(CR), Cases Chargesheeted(CCS), Cases Convicted(CON), Cases in which Trials Completed (CTC), Conviction Rate (CVR), Persons Arrested(PAR), Persons Chargesheeted(PCS) and Persons Convicted(PCV) under Cyber Pornography/Hosting or Publishing Obscene Sexual Materials depicting children under Cyber Crimes against Children during 2018-2020

| SL   | 2018 2019   | 2018 2019   | 2018 2019   | 2018 2019   | 2018 2019   | 2018 2019   | 2018 2019   | 2018 2019   | 2018 2019   | 2018 2019   | 2018 2019   | 2018 2019   | 2018 2019   | 2018 2019   | 2018 2019   | 2018 2019   |
|------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|

| 28             | West Bengal                | 0     | 0   | 0   | 0 -   | 0   |    | 0   | 0   | 1   | 0   | 0   | 0   | -         | 0   | 0   | 0   |   0 |     |   0 | 0 0     | - 0 0   |   0 |
|----------------|----------------------------|-------|-----|-----|-------|-----|----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----------|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|---------|---------|-----|
|                | TOTAL STATE(S)             | 42 22 | 1   | 1   | 100.0 | 36  | 26 | 1   | 102 | 58  | 2   | 2   |     | 100.0 104 | 86  | 4   | 735 | 270 | 0   |   1 | 0.0 372 | 381     |   0 |
| 29             | A&N Islands                | 1     | 0 0 | 0   | -     | 0   | 0  | 0   | 0   | 0   |     | 0 0 | -   | 0         | 0   | 0   | 1   |   2 | 0   |   0 | - 0     | 2       |   0 |
| 30             | Chandigarh                 | 0     | 0 0 | 0   | -     | 0   | 0  | 0   |     | 0 0 | 0   | 0   |     | -         | 0 0 | 0   | 1   |   0 | 0   |   0 | -       | 0 0     |   0 |
| 31             | D&N Haveli and Daman& Diu+ | 0 0   | 0   | 0   | -     | 0   | 0  | 0   | 0   | 0   |     | 0 0 |     | -         | 0 0 | 0   |     |   0 | 0 0 |   0 | -       | 0 0     |   0 |
| 32             | Delhi                      | 1 0   | 0   | 0   | -     | 0   | 0  | 0   | 1   | 0   |     | 0   | 0   | -         | 0   | 0 0 | 1   |   0 | 0   |   0 | -       | 0 0     |   0 |
| 33             | Jammu& Kashmir*            | 0     | 0 0 | 0   | -     | 0   | 0  | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0   |     | 0   | -         | 0   | 0 0 | 0   |   0 | 0   |   0 | -       | 0 0     |   0 |
| 34 Ladakh      |                            | -     | - - | -   | -     | -   | -  | -   | -   | -   | -   | -   |     | -         | - - | -   | 0   |   0 | 0   |   0 | -       | 0 0     |   0 |
| 35 Lakshadweep | 0                          |       | 0 0 | 0   | -     | 0   | 0  | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0   | -   |           | 0 0 | 0   | 0   |   0 | 0   |   0 | - 0     | 0       |   0 |
| 36             | Puducherry                 | 0     | 0 0 | 0   | -     | 0   | 0  | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0   |     | -         | 0 0 | 0   | 0   |   0 | 0   |   0 | - 0     | 0       |   0 |
| TOTAL UT(S)    | 2                          |       | 0 0 | 0   | -     | 0   | 0  | 0   | 1   | 0   | 0   | 0   |     | -         | 0   | 0 0 | 3   |   2 | 0   |   0 | - 0     | 2       |   0 |
|                | TOTAL (ALL INDIA)          | 44    | 22  | 1 1 | 100.0 | 36  | 26 | 1   | 103 | 58  | 2   | 2   |     | 100.0 104 | 86  | 4   | 738 | 272 | 0   |   1 | 0.0 372 | 383     |   0 |

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