NHRC Issues Notice To Centres, States & UTs On Reported Increase In Child Sexual Abuse Material On Social Media In India

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), India, has taken suo motu cognizance of a media report claiming that the circulation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) on social media in India has increased by 250 to 300 percent.

According to reports, the CSAM contents are international, and Indian investigation agencies have yet to come across any CSAM developed in India.

The Commission has observed that the content of the media report, if genuine, is a breach of human rights relating to individuals’ lives, liberty, and dignity, as well as the protection of young children from the risk of sexual abuse on social media.

As a result, it has issued notices to the Commissioner of Police, Delhi, the Director Generals of Police in all States/UTs, the Director of the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), and the Secretary of the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, calling for a detailed report on the steps taken to prevent such a threat on social media within 6 weeks.

According to a media report published on May 15, 2023, around 4,50,207 cases of the transmission of child sexual abuse content have been reported in the year 2023 thus far. Delhi Police has taken action in 3,039 of these cases. 4,47,168 of these cases are presently being investigated.

In some cases, even photos taken lovingly, of young children by respective fathers, brothers and sisters in India have been classified as child sexual abuse by an American NGO.  In India, there were 2,04,056 cases reported in 2022, 1,63,633 in 2021, and 17,390 in 2020 of child sexual abuse content on social media.

The NHRC has been concerned about the negative effects of internet child sexual abuse contents on human rights. It could cause irreversible psychological harm to youngsters, affecting their growth and development. It has been holding conversations on a regular basis in recent years to come up with strategies and means to combat this threat.

It recently organised a national seminar on CSAM at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on March 2nd and 3rd, 2023, which was also addressed by the Union Minister of Law & Justice and the Union Minister of State for Electronics & IT, Skill Development & Entrepreneurship.

It had previously organised an online National Conference on the subject on July 21, 2020, with valuable input from international organisations, government ministries, law enforcement agencies, national and state commissions, civil society groups, domain specialists, and parents’ associations.

The Commission also issued a ‘Human Rights Advisory for the Protection of Children’s Rights in the Context of Covid-19’ on September 29, 2020 and June 2, 2021, respectively, in which it made recommendations to the concerned authorities regarding cybercrime and online safety of children. These concerned the use of the cybercrime reporting portal as well as the PRAGYATA Guidelines for Digital Education.

On November 4th, 2022, a ‘Discussion on Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM)’ was held, where several domain specialists brainstormed on the nature, scope, and many manifestations of the CSAM issue.