Child rights activists flag rising online risks to children, seek stronger safeguards

New Delhi, Jul 8 (PTI) Child rights activists have called for stronger safeguards against online child sexual exploitation as children face growing risks of grooming, sextortion and exposure to child sexual exploitative and abuse material (CSEAM) on digital platforms. Last week, the government issued a stern notice to Meta on CSEAM in paid advertisements on Instagram. MeitY (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology) ordered Instagram to disable all ads and content that promote and facilitate access to CSEAM, and also demanded a detailed explanation within seven days. The action came after IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw directed MeitY officials to summon Meta over Instagram ads allegedly promoting child sexual abuse material. Speaking to PTI, Bhuwan Ribhu, child rights lawyer and Founder of Just Rights for Children (JRC), said one of the biggest challenges is society's failure to recognise the scale of online abuse. "The biggest threat that children face online is a lack of recognition of the vulnerability... and a lack of recognition of the abuse, which is pervasive," he said. Describing online child sexual abuse as a "borderless crime", Ribhu said people sitting in one part of the world can abuse thousands of children elsewhere with impunity and highlighted the absence of globally accepted norms and legal frameworks dealing with such crimes. "...There is a lack of globally accepted norms, policies and international legislation that deals with extraterritorial jurisdiction in cases like this", he said. Ribhu emphasised that poor reporting of cases, social stigma and gaps in implementation further compound the problem. "People are not reporting these cases. There is a lack of reporting...parents will more often than not blame a child for sharing a picture if the child is being threatened," he told PTI. He also flagged the limited accountability of intermediaries and internet service providers in curbing the spread of child sexual abuse material. "There is very little accountability of intermediaries and internet service providers for the spreading of such content," he said. Welcoming the MeitY's direction to Meta to disable content allegedly promoting or facilitating access to CSEAM on Instagram, Ribhu termed it a positive development but said more comprehensive action was needed. "I welcome this move by MeitY... but it is a welcome first step. Much more needs to be done. This is a wake-up call for the government in India that any company doing business in India should be brought to book under Indian laws," he added. Ribhu asserted that merely removing abusive content from platforms was insufficient, as the harm caused to victims continued long after the material was taken down. Calling for stronger legal and international cooperation mechanisms, Ribhu said, "Because this is a borderless crime, this requires a borderless response." Soha Moitra, National Programme Head and Regional Director (North)- Child Rights and You (CRY), told PTI that children's online safety extends far beyond cybercrime and has become a critical child rights issue. "Children are increasingly vulnerable to online grooming, sextortion, Child Sexual Exploitative and Abuse Material (CSEAM), image-based abuse and exploitation through social media, gaming platforms and AI-enabled technologies," she said. Quoting CRY's analysis of NCRB data for 2024, Moitra said 1,238 cyber crimes against children were registered under the Information Technology Act in 2024, and nearly 89 per cent, or 1,099 cases, involved publishing or transmitting material depicting children in sexually explicit acts. "Every image or video represents the abuse of a real child, and each time that content is viewed, shared or redistributed, the child is re-victimised," she told PTI. Moitra noted that removing content after it has been uploaded is "not enough" and platforms should adopt a preventive approach. "Platforms must adopt a preventive, 'Safety by Design' approach by proactively detecting grooming behaviour, strengthening child-friendly reporting systems, improving age-appropriate privacy settings and working closely with law enforcement and child protection organisations," she said. Moitra highlighted that online child sexual exploitation often extends beyond illegal content circulating on social media, with offenders increasingly using digital platforms to groom and manipulate children. "Offenders use social media, gaming platforms and messaging apps to groom children, build trust, coerce them into sharing intimate images, and facilitate sextortion or other forms of sexual exploitation," she said. She mentioned that increased social media use does not make children vulnerable; however, the lack of adequate safeguards and support systems heightens risks. "The key concern is whether children's online engagement is supported by adequate safeguards, digital literacy and protective systems," she said. Moitra said online exploitation frequently mirrors vulnerabilities that children face offline. "Our experience working with children and communities shows that online exploitation often mirrors offline vulnerabilities. Children experiencing social isolation, violence, discrimination or weak family and institutional support are more susceptible to online grooming and coercion," she said. She also flagged the growing use of emerging technologies in facilitating abuse. "We are also seeing growing concerns around sextortion, fake identities, AI-generated manipulated images, encrypted messaging platforms and exploitation through gaming communities," she said. Noting that the actual scale of the problem is likely larger than official figures indicate, Moitra said many children do not come forward because they fear being blamed or punished. "Many children continue to underreport abuse because they fear being blamed, punished or losing access to their devices. This means the actual scale of online exploitation is likely to be much larger than official statistics suggest," she said. She said protecting children online should be treated as a fundamental responsibility of digital platforms. "The objective should not simply be to penalise failures, but to create digital ecosystems where protecting children is treated as a fundamental responsibility rather than a compliance exercise," she said. Moitra also stressed that children's access to digital spaces should be made safer rather than restricted. "The response... should not be to limit children's access to digital spaces but to make those spaces safer," she said. PTI KSH MPL MPL