Operation Megh Chakra
Source: Hindu
GS II: Policies and Developmental Studies
What is discussed under Operation Megh Chakra?
- Operation Megh Chakra
- What is Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM)?
- Steps Taken by the Indian Government to Curb Online Child Sex Abuse
Why in News?
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted raids on 59 sites across 20 states and one union territory as part of a pan-India campaign to combat the circulation and sharing of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM).
Operation Megh Chakra
- Mobile phones and laptops were among the technological devices seized during the search.
- Preliminary examination of these devices utilising cyber forensic technologies showed the existence of substantial amounts of child sexual abuse material in several of them.
- Interpol’s Crime Against Children Unit, based in Singapore, notified the CBI that CSAM was being spread in India using cloud-based storage technology.
- The information concerning these downloadable child sexual abuse materials was sent to Interpol by New Zealand’s National Central Bureau (NCB).
- The information was then forwarded to CBI for investigation.
- The CBI has termed its current operation to track down cases of internet child sexual exploitation with international connections ‘Operation Megh Chakra’.
- It focuses on merging information from various law enforcement agencies around the country while working closely with Interpol and other international organisations to prevent online child sexual exploitation.
- The CBI also stated that this raid is a follow-up to last year’s ‘Operation Carbon’ targeting the cloud storage-based dissemination of child pornographic content.
- Operation Carbon took place in 76 different places.
- The individuals identified in the FIRs were arrested and charged under the relevant provisions of the IPC and the Information Technology Act for allegedly being members of syndicates that uploaded, disseminated, sold, and viewed such content.
What is Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM)?
- It refers to material/content (videos/images/text/audio) portraying child sexual assault.
- Anything displaying a kid in sexually explicit poses, as well as material focused explicitly on a child’s genitalia, may be classified as Child Sexual Abuse Material.
- The Indian Law is rather extensive in handling concerns of child pornography or child sexual abuse images, or as the law refers to it – the portrayal of a child engaging in actual or simulated sexual activity.
- This involves digital manipulation, illustration, animation, and sketching, among other things.
- The following activities are few criminal actions under the POCSO Act (sections 11, 13, 14), the IT Act (sections 66E, 67), and the IPC (sections 292, 354A, 354C):
- Browsing, seeking & searching for child sexual abuse imagery
- Viewing child sexual abuse imagery (including online voyeurism)
- Downloading child sexual abuse imagery
- Storing, storing for commercial purposes and collecting child sexual abuse imagery
- Advertising child sexual abuse imagery
- Distributing or sharing or transmitting child sexual abuse imagery
- Punishment:
- Using a child for pornographic purposes is a non-bailable offence that can result in anything from 6 years to life imprisonment depending on the degree of harm caused to the child.
- Viewing, accessing, storing, downloading, or displaying pornography to a child can result in up to three or five years in prison.
Steps Taken by the Indian Government to Curb Online Child Sex Abuse
- According to Interpol statistics, India recorded over 24 lakh cases of online child sexual abuse from 2017 to 2020, with 80% of victims being girls under the age of 14.
- Prepubescent victims, including newborns and toddlers, made up more than 60% of unidentified victims.
- Approximately 65% of unidentified victims were female, although serious abuse photos were more likely to be male.
- The CBI established a special section named the ‘Online Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Prevention/Investigation (OCSAE)’ in 2019 to detect and monitor CSEM posting, circulation, and downloads online.
- Last year, the CBI launched a countrywide operation against accused online CSEM peddlers in India based on intelligence obtained by the bureau.
- In 2020, the Maharashtra Police’s cyber wing got software from Interpol to track child sex abuse caught on video and in photographs.
- In 2019, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a non-profit organisation located in the United States, began exchanging information regarding child sex abuse with Indian organisations.
- This information was received by the National Crime Records Bureau and forwarded on to the states where the occurrences occurred in order to increase the detection of persons distributing such stuff.
Various Laws against Child Pornography
- Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO Act 2012)
- To protect the children from offenses of sexual assault, sexual harassment, pornography.
- Also to provide for the establishment of Special Courts for the trial of such offenses and matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
- To ensure the proper development of the children and aims to protect their privacy and confidentiality through the judicial process
- National cybercrime reporting portal (2018)
- It was launched by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for filing online complaints pertaining to child pornography and rape-gang rape.
- Information and Technology Act, 2000
- Section 67A amendment deals with the electronic transmission of material containing sexually explicit acts, punished with a jail term of 5 years along with a fine of Rs 10 lakh.
- Section 67B of the act deals with child pornography.
- Indian Penal Code (IPC)
- According to Section 292 of IPC, something is obscene if it is vulgar or lascivious, or if it tries to degrade and corrupt another person.
- Section 293 of the IPC states that anybody who buys, distributes, shows, or circulates such information to anyone under the age of 20 will be prosecuted.
- Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986
- Indecent portrayal of women is prohibited in “advertisements or in publications, writings, paintings, figures, or in any other form and for things connected with or ancillary thereto.”
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