Young lives are at stake

Young lives are at stake

News

1. The SC emphasised that law must find ways to deal with online abuse of children

Important facts

2. Physical violence against children is not the only type of abuse, but psychological violence through online sources are also forms of abuse and violence against children.
3. In past two years there has been 1,575 incidents involving children in online abuse (involved pornography, cyber bullying, or online games like Blue Whale )
4. The direct and indirect economic costs are larger because such abuse undermines the long-term potential of victims and societies.
5. India on online abuse

• In 2016 report by UNICEF India said, the issue has received very little attention and is not included in National Crime Records Bureau statistics as a separate category.
• No separate law to curb, it is being administered by POCSO Act, 2012 and  Juvenile Justice (care and protection of children) Act, 2015
• There is not enough forensic capacity to investigate online offences and inadequate cooperation by India for investigating international offences.

6. Steps being taken

• Google has announced that it is employing a new Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology to combat online spreading of content involving child sexual abuse.
• AI technology
• It is a branch of computer science that aims to create intelligent machines. Research associated with AI is highly technical and specialized.
• It will help service providers, NGOs and other tech firms to improve child sexual abuse material detection and reduce human reviewers’ exposure to the content.

All the stakeholders need to make a collective effort, including service providers, content providers, civil society and regulatory authorities, family and schools to help redress the online abuse and protect young lives.