National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) takes suo motu case, issues notices to all DGPs

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognizance of a media report that the circulation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) has increased by 250 to 300 percent on social media in India. It has issued notices to the Commissioner of Police, Delhi, the Director Generals of the Police of all the States and UTs, the Director, the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), and the Secretary, the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, calling for a detailed report in the matter within six weeks on the steps taken to prevent such a menace on social media.

Reportedly, the CSAM contents are foreign, and the Indian investigation agencies have not come across any Indian-made CSAM so far.

The Commission has observed that the content of the media report, if true, amounts to a violation of human rights relating to the life, liberty, and dignity of citizens and the protection of young children from the danger of their sexual abuse on social media. According to the media report carried on May 15, 2023, about 4,50,207 cases of the spread of child sexual abuse material have been reported in the year 2023 so far. Out of these, the Delhi Police has taken action in 3,039 cases. Of these, 4,47,168 cases are currently being studied. In some cases, even photographs taken lovingly of young children by their respective fathers, brothers, and sisters in India have been classified as child sexual abuse by an American NGO. There were 2,04,056 cases reported in the year 2022, 16,363 in the year 2021, and 17,390 in the year 2020 of child sexual abuse material on social media in India.

The NHRC has been concerned with the ill effects of online child sexual abuse material on human rights. It may cause irreparable psychological damage to children, impacting their growth and development. It has been organising dialogues from time to time in the recent past to come up with ways and means to check this menace. Recently, on March 2nd and 3rd, 2023, it organised a national seminar on CSAM at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, which was also addressed by the Union Minister of Law and Justice and the Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Skill Development, and Entrepreneurship.

Earlier, on July 21, 2020, it also organised an online national conference on the subject with valuable input from international organisations, government ministries, law-enforcement agencies, national and state commissions, civil society groups, domain experts, and parents’ associations.

The Commission has also issued ‘Human Rights Advisory for the Protection of the Rights of Children in the Context of COVID-19" on September 29, 2020, and June 2, 2021, respectively, wherein it made recommendations to the authorities concerned regarding cybercrime and the online safety of children. These pertain to using the cybercrime reporting portal and the PRAGYATA Guidelines for Digital Education. Also, a ‘Discussion on Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) was held on November 4, 2022, wherein various domain experts brainstormed on the nature, extent, and different manifestations of the issue of CSAM.

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