Lok Sabha Question No. 979 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-07-26
Subject: Digital Safety of Citizens
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Beesetti  Venkata Satyavathi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 979

TO BE ANSWERED ON 26.07.2023

## DIGITAL SAFETY OF CITIZENS

## 979. DR. BEESETTI VENKATA SATYAVATHI:

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

(a) whether the Government has taken any steps to ensure digital safety of citizens;

(b) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;

(c)  the  details  of  orders  served  by  the  Government  to  social  media  platforms  to  take  down content hampering the digital safety of citizens since 2021;

(d) whether the Government is maintaining data of sub-judice cases on cyber stalking, bullying and harassment across the country;

(e) if so, the details thereof, State/UT-wise and if not, the reasons therefor;

(f)  whether  the  Government  has  held  any  consultation  with  Social  Media  platforms  on  the aforementioned issues; and

(g) if so, the details and the outcome thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAJEEV CHANDRASEKHAR)

(a) and (b): The policies of the Government are aimed at ensuring an Open, Safe and Trusted and Accountable Internet for all digital nagriks. Safety and Trust will in turn ensure digital safety of users.  The  Information  Technology  Act,  2000  ('IT  Act')  and  rules  made  thereunder  contain several  provisions  for  safeguarding  Digital  Nagriks  from  digital  crimes.  The  IT  Act  penalises various  offences  relating  to  computer  resources,  including  tampering  with  computer  source documents  (section  65),  dishonestly  or  fraudulently  damaging  computer  system  (section  66), identity theft (section 66C), cheating by impersonation (section 66D), etc.

In  addition  to  such  general  provisions  regarding  cyber  offences,  it  also  provides  for  various offences  that  serve  to  secure  the  digital  space  for  women,  e.g.,  violation  of  bodily  privacy (section 66E), transmitting of obscene material (section 67), and publishing or transmission of material  containing  sexually  explicit  act  in  electronic  form  (section  67A  and  67B).  These offences are in addition  to  various  penal  provisions  under  the  Indian  Penal  Code,  such  as  the offence of stalking using electronic communication (section 354D).

Further, the Central Government, in exercise of powers conferred by IT Act, has notified the new Information  Technology  (Intermediary  Guidelines  and  Digital  Media  Ethics  Code)  Rules, 2021('IT  Rules,  2021').  These  new  rules  cast  specific  obligation  on  intermediaries  vis-à-vis what kind of information is to be hosted, displayed, uploaded, published, transmitted, stored or shared. Intermediaries are also required to remove any content violative of any law for the time being in force as and when brought to their knowledge either through a court order or through a notice by appropriate government or its authorised agency. In case of failure to follow diligence as  provided  in  the  IT  Rules,  2021,  by  intermediaries,  they  shall  lose  their  exemption  from liability under section 79 of the IT Act and shall be liable for consequential action as provided in such  law.  Further,  in  case  an  intermediary  is  a  significant  social  media  intermediary  (an intermediary  having  more  than  50  lakh  registered  users  in  India),  to  additionally  observe  due diligence in terms of appointing, in India, a  Grievance  Officer,  a  Chief  Compliance  Officer and a  nodal contact  person for  24x7

coordination with law enforcement agencies. As per the IT Rules, 2021, the Chief Compliance Officer is responsible for ensuring compliance with the IT Act and the rules made thereunder.

Keeping  in  view  complaints  regarding  action  or  inaction,  on  the  part  of  the  social  media intermediaries  and  other  intermediaries  on  user  grievances  regarding  objectionable  content  or suspension  of  their  accounts,  the  Central  Government  has  also  established  three  GACs (Grievance Appellate Committees), as provided for in the said IT Rules, 2021 to enable users to appeal against the decisions taken by Grievance Officer of intermediaries on user complaints.

(c): Section 69A of the IT Act provides power to the Central Government to issue directions to block any information if it is necessary or expedient to do so in the interest of sovereignty and integrity, defence of India, security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States or public order or for inciting cognizable offence relating to above. The Central Government has issued directions  for  blocking  of  6096,  6775  and  3470  URLs  in  the  year  2021,  2022  and  2023, respectively.

(d) and (e):  As per the information maintained by the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), State/UT-wise and Crime Head-wise cases registered, cases charge-sheeted, cases sent for trial, cases  convicted,  persons  arrested,  person  charge-sheeted  and  persons  convicted  under  the category Cybercrime (involving communication devices as medium or target), during the period 2019-2021 is placed at Annexure-I and Annexure-II, respectively. Latest published data pertains to the year 2021.

(f) and (g): In achieving the Government's objectives at ensuring an Open, Safe and Trusted and Accountable  Internet  for  its  users,  the  Government  engages  with  the  public  and  stakeholders including social media intermediaries,in respect of digital safety of digital nagriks.

*******

ses Registered(CR), Cases Charge-sheeted(CCS), Cases Sent for Trial (CST), Cases Convicted(CON), Persons Arrested(PAR), Persons Charge-sheeted(PCS) and Person under  Cyber Crimes During 2019-2021

|           | 2019 PCV   | 2019 PCV    | 2019 PCV   | 2019 PCV   | 2019 PCV   | 2019 PCV   | 2019 PCV   |         |         |       |           |             |      |          |          |         |     |    |
|-----------|------------|-------------|------------|------------|------------|------------|------------|---------|---------|-------|-----------|-------------|------|----------|----------|---------|-----|----|
|           | CR         | CCS         | CST        | CON PAR    |            | PCS        | CR         | CCS     | CST     | CON   |           | PAR PCS     | PCV  | CR       | CCS      | CST     | CON | P  |
| sh        | 1886       | 235         | 235 3      | 452        | 344        | 5          | 1899       | 314     | 314     | 6     | 475       | 446         | 9    | 1875     | 374      | 374     | 8   |    |
|           | 8          | 0           | 0 0        | 1          | 0          | 0          | 30         | 1       | 1       | 0     | 12        | 1           | 0    | 47       | 3        | 3       | 0   |    |
|           | 2231       | 349 349     | 13         | 1636       | 733        | 13         | 3530       | 385     | 385     | 0     | 1717      | 395         | 0    | 4846     | 579      | 579     | 2   | 6  |
|           | 1050       | 288 288     | 4          | 1014       | 519        | 17         | 1512       | 651     | 651     | 0     | 751       | 727         | 0    | 1413     | 424      | 424     | 2   |    |
|           | 175        | 94          | 94 13      | 139        | 136        | 19         | 297        | 152     | 152     | 3     | 209       | 188         | 3    | 352      | 200      | 200     | 0   |    |
|           | 15         | 20 20       | 0          | 3          | 25         | 0          | 40         | 6       | 6       | 0     | 15        | 15          | 0    | 36       | 18       | 18      | 0   |    |
|           | 784        | 447         | 447 0      | 1083       | 1064       | 0          | 1283       | 475     | 475     | 0     | 942       | 906         | 0    | 1536     | 715      | 715     | 0   | 1  |
|           | 564        | 188 188     | 6          | 314        | 288        | 10         | 656        | 221     | 221     | 0     | 347       | 323         | 0    | 622      | 326      | 326     | 3   |    |
| esh       | 76         | 20          | 20 2       | 44         | 24         | 2          | 98         | 31      | 31      | 0     | 46        | 39          | 0    | 70       | 63       | 63      | 1   |    |
|           | 1095       | 344         | 344 19     | 402        | 568        | 19         | 1204       | 462     | 462     |       | 125       | 820 791     | 131  | 953      | 400      | 400     | 25  | 1  |
|           | 12020      | 111 111     | 9          | 446        | 183        | 10         | 10741      | 2842    | 2842    | 2     | 489       | 2916        | 2    | 8136     | 5801     | 5801    | 10  |    |
|           | 307        | 176 176     | 2          | 220        | 214        | 2          | 426        | 161     | 161     | 0     | 299       | 179         | 0    | 626      | 287      | 287     | 2   |    |
| sh        | 602        | 405 405     | 18         | 659        | 531        | 24         | 699        | 445     | 445     | 14    | 692       | 598         | 15   | 589      | 487      | 487     | 50  |    |
|           | 4967       | 980         | 7          | 1739       |            |            | 5496       | 902     | 902     | 3     | 1735      | 1238        | 3    | 5562     | 1428     | 1428    | 23  | 2  |
|           | 4          | 980         |            |            | 1470       | 9          | 79         |         |         |       |           |             |      | 67       |          | 6       | 0   |    |
|           |            | 0           | 0 0        | 8          | 0          | 0          |            | 0       | 0       | 0     | 17        | 0           |      | 0        | 2        | 2       | 0   |    |
|           | 89 8       | 2 4         | 2 4 0      | 0 5        | 3 3 5      | 0 0        | 142 13     | 1 8     | 8       | 1 2   | 0 9 4     | 7 8         | 0    | 107 2 30 | 6 20     | 20 0    | 3   |    |
|           |            | 220         |            | 0          |            |            |            | 0       |         |       |           |             | 0    | 8 2037   |          | 313     |     |    |
|           | 2 1485     | 0           | 0 0        |            | 0          | 0          | 8          |         | 0       | 0     | 0         | 0           |      |          | 0 313    |         | 0   | 0  |
|           |            | 220         | 0          | 316        | 351        | 0          | 1931       | 282     | 282     | 0     | 369       | 396         | 0    |          |          |         |     |    |
|           | 243        | 90          | 90 5       | 259        | 118        | 9          | 378        | 106     | 106     |       | 1 298     | 162         | 1    | 551      | 188      | 188     | 4   |    |
|           | 1762 312   | 312 1       | 35         | 571        | 556        | 41         | 1354       | 340 0   | 340     | 24    | 541       | 520         | 32   | 1504     | 502 0    | 502 0   | 0   | 23 |
|           | 2          | 1           | 0          | 3          | 2          | 0          | 0          |         | 0       | 0     | 0         | 0           | 0    | 0        |          |         |     |    |
| 385       | 113 2691   | 113 847     | 8          | 400 748    | 161 1564   | 10         | 782        | 135 939 | 135 939 | 7 280 |           | 516 237     | 9    | 1076     | 147 1361 | 147     | 6   | 19 |
|           | 20         | 847 4       | 10 0       | 1          | 5          | 11 0       | 5024 34    | 5       | 5       | 0     | 1169 6    | 1158 5      | 282  | 10303 0  | 10       | 1361 10 | 0   | 1  |
|           | 11416      | 4 3705 3705 | 201        | 4324       | 5258       | 272        | 11097      | 4987    | 4987    | 642   |           | 6427        | 878  | 24 8829  | 4407     | 4407    | 292 | 6  |
|           | 100        | 40 40       | 1          | 71         | 72         | 1          | 243        | 58      | 58      | 0     | 6491      | 93 80       |      | 0 718    | 158      | 158     | 0   |    |
|           | 524        | 104         | 4          | 215        | 124        | 4          | 712        | 178     | 178     | 0     | 203       | 313         | 0    | 513      | 307      | 307     | 17  |    |
|           |            | 104         |            |            | 14318      | 478        | 49708      | 14087   | 14087   |       |           |             |      | 1367     | 18526    | 18526   | 490 |    |
| S) 44511  | 9099 2     | 9099 0 0    | 360 0      | 15076      | 0          | 0 0        | 5          | 5       | 5       | 1109  | 18265 0 3 | 18075 5     | 0    | 52430 8  | 3        | 3       | 0   | 26 |
| 23        |            | 9           | 9 5        | 14         | 14         | 6          | 17         | 3       |         | 3     | 1         | 3           | 2    | 15       | 6        | 6       | 0   |    |
| gar d iu+ | 3          | 0 0         | 0          | 1          | 0          | 0          | 3          | 1       | 1       | 0     | 4         | 1 1         | 0    | 5        | 2        | 2       |     | 0  |
|           | 115        | 58 58       | 2          | 147        | 80         | 2          | 168        | 61      | 61      | 0     | 107       | 77          | 0    | 356      | 157      | 157     |     | 1  |
|           | 73         | 18 18       | 0          | 22         | 22         | 0          | 120        | 14      | 14      | 0     | 33        | 23          | 0    | 154      | 49       | 49      | 0   |    |
|           | -          | -           | - -        | -          | -          | -          | 1          | 0       | 0       |       | 0         | 0 0         | 0    | 5        | 0        | 0       | 0   |    |
|           | 4          | 0 0         | 0          | 0          | 0          | 0          | 3          | 0       |         | 0     | 0 2       | 0           | 0    | 1        |          | 1       | 1 0 |    |
|           | 4          | 3           | 3 0        | 8          | 8          | 0          | 10         | 5       | 5       | 0     | 5         | 5           |      | 0 0      | 0        | 0       | 0   |    |
|           | 224        | 88          | 88 7       | 192        | 124        | 8          | 327        | 89      |         | 89    | 1         | 155 114     | 2    | 544      | 218      | 218     | 1   |    |
|           | 44735      | 9187        | 9187       | 367 15268  | 14442      | 486        | 50035      | 14176   |         | 14176 | 1110      | 18420 18189 | 1369 | 52974    | 18744    | 18744   | 491 | 27 |

ia

data of erstwhile D&N Haveli UT and Daman & Diu UT during 2019

Jammu & Kashmir State including Ladakh during during 2019

|                        | 2019   | 2019   | 2019   | 2019     | 2019      | 2019   | 2019   |       |       |       |      |       |       |           |             | 2021     | 2021   | 2021   |
|------------------------|--------|--------|--------|----------|-----------|--------|--------|-------|-------|-------|------|-------|-------|-----------|-------------|----------|--------|--------|
| ds                     | CR     | CCS    | CST    | CON      | PAR       | PCS    | PCV    | CR    | CCS   | CST   | CON  | PAR   | PCS   | PCV       | CR CCS      | CST      | CON    |        |
| uter ts                | 173    | 42     | 42     | 2        | 60        | 62     | 8      | 338   | 76    | 76    | 20   | 153   | 134   | 23        | 55 51       | 51       | 0      |        |
| d                      | 23734  | 3691   | 3691   | 161 5174 | 5586      |        | 188    | 21926 | 6435  | 6435  | 508  | 6499  | 7726  | 568 19915 | 10256       | 10256    | 211    |        |
|                        | 12     | 3      | 3      | 0        | 17 11     |        | 0      | 26    | 4     | 4     | 0    | 20    | 6     | 0 15      | 6           | 6        | 0      |        |
| smission ually ctronic | 4203   | 1567   | 1567   | 86       | 2531 2111 | 106    |        | 6308  | 2343  | 2343  | 66   | 3858  | 3170  | 82        | 6598 2811   | 2811     | 123    |        |
| cryption               | 9      | 8      | 8      | 0        | 8 8       |        | 0      | 7     | 3     | 3     | 0    | 3     | 3     | 0 2       | 1           | 1        | 0      |        |
| to ted                 | 2      | 2      | 2      | 0        | 2         | 2      | 0      | 2     | 0     | 0     | 0    | 0     | 0     | 0         | 3 0         | 0        | 0      |        |
| mit                    | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0        | 0         | 0      | 0      | 1     | 1     | 1     | 0    | 1     | 1     | 0         | 7 4         | 4        | 0      |        |
| mit                    | 14     | 10     | 10     | 0        | 16        | 14     | 0      | 18    | 12    | 12    | 0    | 16    | 14    | 0         | 5 3         | 3        | 0      |        |
| f IT Act               | 2699   | 451    | 451    | 50       | 727       | 690    | 78     | 1017  | 320   | 320   | 37   | 509   | 431   | 48        | 827         | 386 386  | 19     |        |
| nder I.T.              | 30846  | 5774   | 5774   | 299      | 8535      | 8484   | 380    | 29643 | 9194  | 9194  | 631  | 11059 | 11485 | 721       | 27427 13518 | 13518    | 353    |        |
| cide                   | 7      | 6      | 6      | 0        | 12        | 12     | 0      | 10    | 6     | 6     | 0    | 12    | 7     | 0         | 10 10       | 10       | 0      |        |
| ullying ren            | 771    | 463    | 463    | 12       | 673       | 581    | 15     | 872   | 438   | 438   | 8    | 619   | 525   | 10        | 1176 702    | 702      | 15     |        |
|                        | 282    | 28     | 28     | 1        | 59        | 42     | 1      | 98    | 137   | 137   | 75   | 205   | 195   | 75        | 170 33      | 33       | 3      |        |
|                        | 6229   | 1119   | 1119   | 18       | 2539      | 1980   | 40     | 10395 | 1688  | 1688  | 221  | 2332  | 2268  | 246       | 14007 1815  | 1815     | 30     |        |
|                        | 3367   | 535    | 535    | 10       | 1249      | 1292   | 14     | 4480  | 771   | 771   | 60   | 1277  | 1163  | 85        | 6343        | 842 842  | 27     |        |
|                        | 511    | 127    | 127    | 0        | 167       | 463    | 0      | 582   | 419   | 419   | 77   | 479   | 454   | 189       | 198 102     | 102      | 16     |        |
| rphing                 | 19     | 4      | 4      | 0        | 5         | 4      | 0      | 51    | 4     | 4     | 0    | 15    | 6     | 0         | 31          | 11 11    | 0      |        |
|                        | 85     | 35     | 35     | 0        | 45        | 43     | 0      | 149   | 43    | 43    | 2    | 65    | 65    | 2         | 123 39      | 39       | 1      |        |
|                        | 5      | 5      | 5      | 0        | 8         | 8      | 0      | 9     | 2     | 2     | 0    | 10    | 4     | 0         | 2 1         | 1        | 0      |        |
| reatening              | 362    | 109    | 109    | 2        | 296       | 145    | 2      | 303   | 121   | 121   | 6    | 203   | 153   | 6         | 689         | 238 238  | 2      |        |
| cial                   | 188    | 60     | 60     | 1        | 171       | 94     | 1      | 578   | 145   | 145   | 1    | 213   | 207   | 1         | 179         | 148 148  | 0      |        |
|                        | 1974   | 883    | 883    | 23       | 1404      | 1204   | 31     | 2674  | 1123  | 1123  | 9    | 1716  | 1501  | 14        | 2456 1198   | 1198     | 36     |        |
| nder IPC               | 13800  | 3374   | 3374   | 67       | 6628 5868 |        | 104    | 20201 | 4897  | 4897  | 459  | 7146  | 6548  | 628       | 25384 5139  | 5139     | 130    |        |
| nline                  | 22     | 16     | 16     | 0        | 58        | 54     | 0      | 63    | 31    | 31    | 7    | 116   | 85    | 7         | 27          | 26 26    | 3      |        |
| line                   | 9      | 1      | 1      | 0        | 11        | 1      | 0      | 26    | 12    | 12    | 11   | 14    | 12    | 11        | 4           | 5 5      | 0      |        |
|                        | 34     |        |        |          |           | 11     |        |       |       |       |      |       | 36    | 0         |             | 28       |        |        |
|                        | 1      | 10     | 10     | 0        | 8         |        | 0      | 49    | 24    | 24    | 0    | 44    |       |           | 32          | 28 0     | 0      |        |
| s                      | 23     | 3      | 3      | 0        | 2         | 3      | 0      | 5 48  | 2 16  | 2     | 0    | 3     | 2     | 0         | 1           | 0        | 0      |        |
| nder                   |        | 9      | 9      | 1        | 26 21     | 2      |        |       |       | 16    | 2    | 38    | 21    | 2         | 99          | 28 28 87 | 5      |        |
| SLL                    | 89     | 39     | 39     | 1        | 105       | 90     | 2      | 191   | 85    | 85    | 20   | 215   | 156   | 20        | 163         | 87       | 8      |        |
| es                     | 44735  | 9187   | 9187   | 367      | 15268     | 14442  | 486    | 50035 | 14176 | 14176 | 1110 | 18420 | 18189 | 1369      | 52974 18744 | 18744    | 491    |        |