Lok Sabha Question No. 144 (STARRED), answered on 2021-12-08
Subject: Cyber Crimes against Children
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Kanakmal Katara, Keshari Devi Patel

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.*144

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 08.12.2021

## CYBER CRIMES AGAINST CHILDREN

## *144. SHRI KANAKMAL KATARA: SHRIMATI KESHARI DEVI PATEL:

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

- (a) whether cyber crimes against children haveincreased during the last two years and if so, the detailsof steps being taken by the Government to check thesame;
- (b) the details of steps taken by the Government totackle several confidentiality related risks to children likecyber threat and online harassment; and
- (c) the details of various steps taken to check fakecalls, fake messages, etc.?

## ANSWER

MINISTER FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

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

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *144  FOR08-12-2021 REGARDINGCYBER CRIMES AGAINST CHILDREN

……..

(a) and (b): With  the  expansion  of  internet  and  more  and  more  Indians  coming  online,  the incidents of cyber crimes including crimes against children online is also increasing. The challenges of  cyber  space  are  many  which  flow  from  its  vastness  and  borderless  character.  That  is  why  the government is committed to policies and actions that ensure that Internet in India is always Open, Safe  &  Trusted  and  Accountable  for  all  Indians.      The  National  Crime  Records  Bureau  (NCRB) compiles  and  publishes  statistical  data  on  crimes  in  its  publication  'Crime  in  India'.  The  latest published report is for the year 2020. As per data published by NCRB, a total of 306 and 1102 cases of cyber crime against children were registered during the year 2019 and 2020 respectively.

'Police'  and  'Public  Order'  are  State  subjects  as  per  the  Seventh  Schedule  of  the  Constitution  of India.  States/UTs are primarily responsible for the prevention, detection, investigation  and prosecution of crimes through their Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs). The LEAs take legal action as per provisions of law against the offenders.

To  strengthen  the  mechanism  to  deal  with  cyber  crimes  including  crimes  against  children  in  a comprehensive and coordinated manner, the Central Government has taken measures in consultation with various stakeholders which, inter-alia, include the following:

- (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  time-bound  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) Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) operates a National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, www.cybercrime.gov.in  to enable citizens to report complaints pertaining to all types of cyber crimes with special focus on cyber crimes against women and children. Ministry of Home Affairs has set up the 'Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C)' to deal with  all  types  of  cyber  crime  in  the  country,  in  a  coordinated  and  comprehensive manner.
- (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) 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.
- (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) To  spread  awareness  on  cybercrime,  MHA  has  taken  several  steps  that  include dissemination  of  messages  on  cybercrime  through  Twitter  handle  @cyberDost,  radio campaign, publishing of Handbook for Adolescents / Students.
- (ix) 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.
- (x) A  MoU  is  signed  between  the  NCRB,  India  and  National  Center  for  Missing  and Exploited  Children  (NCMEC),  USA  regarding  receiving  of  Tipline  report  on  online child pornography and child sexual exploitation contents from NCMEC. The Tip lines, as  received  from  NCMEC,  are  being  shared  with  Stats/UTs  online  through  Nation Cybercrime Reporting Portal for taking further action.

(c): The Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000 has a provision to deal with menace of fake calls and  messages  made  through  internet  as  medium.  Section  66D  of  the  IT  Act,  2000  provides  for punishment of imprisonment up to three years and fine for cheating by personation.

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