A blueprint for safeguarding children

 A blueprint for safeguarding children

A recent Supreme Court ruling reframes the watching and downloading of child porn as a serious crime, rather than an adult indulgence

 historic judgment against the online sexual abuse of children

why in news ? 

pronounced by the Supreme Court of India in a petition filed by the Just Rights for Children Alliance, will have a long lasting and global impact on society, crime, and child rights.

In January 2024, the Madras High Court 

had ruled that “merely” downloading or watching child pornography is not a crime, and quashed a case against a 28-year-old man. 

How can someone who searches for and watches the rape of a child, thereby creating a demand for child rape, walk free / to not be charged with a crime ? 

but Supreme Court corrected this grave oversight

here is  scope of the crime by making downloading and storage of such material an offence,

 but swupreme court also mandated a comprehensive framework to combat Child Sexual Exploitative and Abuse Material (CSEAM) and placed strict responsibilities on social media intermediaries to comply with Indian law.

 name changed child porn to CSEAM ?

\By shifting the language from child porn to CSEAM, the ruling reframes the issue as a serious crime. 

It further establishes that individuals who search for or download such material create a demand-supply chain that fuels the rape and exploitation of children.

Even more troubling is that many children are unaware that they have been victimised, as their images are circulated in secrecy.

Measures required

for  fully realise its impact

government must implement a comprehensive set of measures to ensure the safety and rehabilitation of children 

 Current approaches 

largely focus on punishing those in possession of CSEAM, while the child victims behind these images often remain without support. 

what is the need ? 

First, cybercrime

should be clearly defined in Indian laws and CSEAM should be brought within its ambit as an economic and organised crime. 

new new types  crimes, such as 

• enticement through electronic or digital means, 
• trafficking for both forced labour and
• sexual exploitation need to be explicitly outlawed. 

• The rise of AI-generated child sexual abuse material makes the situation worse as it blurs the line between real and synthetic images.

Second, social media platforms must be held accountable 

for reporting CSEAM in real-time to law enforcement. The judgment has mandated that intermediaries report such content to local police and authorities.

Third, India should establish an institutional framework 

1 in the form of a forensic lab equipped with cutting-edge technology

2 international agencies concern ? 

Currently, international agencies, such as Interpol, flag Indian IP addresses to the National Crime Records Bureau, which then passes this information to state authorities. 

3 A domestic lab would reduce response time by allowing India to flag suspicious activity locally and share real-time alerts within Indian and foreign authorities.

4 Fourth, upload data to  National Database 

details of individuals prosecuted for searching or downloading CSEAM should be entered into the National Database on Sexual Offenders and barred from employment in sectors involving children.

A border-less response

a border-less crime requires a border-less response

The United Nations Summit of the Future 2024 missed a critical opportunity to address emerging crimes against children. 

CSEAM is a multibillion-dollar global industry, accelerated by technological advancements. 

The world must unite to end this crime. To combat CSEAM effectively, we need a legally binding international convention.

By streamlining cooperation 

between law enforcement, governments, and stakeholders, we can enable targeted interventions to dismantle these networks and protect vulnerable children.

 Establishing an International Database 

of Sex Offenders could be a critical step in this direction. Financial institutions also play a crucial role in tracking and disrupting the money trails sustaining these networks. 

Without coordinated global action and financial accountability, 

dismantling these systems will remain elusive. Therefore, an international convention binding state and non-state actors is imperative to ensure coordinated response against the economics of this crime, and for identification of perpetrators, their networks, and for rehabilitation of child victims.

source the hindu