SEMINAR COURSE

SEMINAR ON OFFENCES AGNSTCHILDREN

Semester & Program: B.A. LL.B. (spz criminal law), 5th year, 9th semester

TITLE OF PAPER: CHILD PORNOGRAPHY AND ITS LEGAL

FRAMEWORK IN INDIA

Submitted by

NAME SAP ID ROLL NO.

Anukriti Sharma 500071440 R154218142

Submitted under guidance of Prof. Ishan Maheshwari

SCHOOL OF LAW

UNIVERSITY OF PETROLEUM AND ENERGY STUDIES

DEHRADUN

(November 2022)

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my mentor Prof. Ishan Maheshwari
as well as our Dean Dr. VK Singh who gave me the golden opportunity to work on seminar
paper on offences against Children on topic Child Pornography and its Legal Framework in
India, which also helped in doing lot of research and I came to know about so many new things,
I am really thankful to them.

Secondly, I would like to thank my professors and seniors who helped in finalizing this project
within the limited time frame

Anukriti Sharma

SAP ID :500071440

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 TABLE OF CONTENT

SNO TOPIC Pg no.

1. Acknowledgement 2

2. List of Abbreviation 4

3. Abstract 5

4. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 6-8

-What is online abuse?
-Who is a Child?
- A Debate on Pornography or Obscenity
- Podophiles: A psychological disorder
5. CHAPTER 2 INTERNATIONAL 9-12
LAWS INTERNATIONAL ASPECTS
CONCERNING CHILD
PORNOGRAPHY

6. CHAPTER 3: INDIAN LEGAL 13-16

PROVISONS AND PUNISHMENTS
RELATED CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

7 CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSION AND 17-19

SUGGESTION

8. BIBLIOGRAPHY 20

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 LIST OF ABBREVIATION

1. & and
2. Art. Article
3. CRC Convention on the Rights of the
Child
4. CrPC The Criminal Procedure Code, 1973
5. EU European Union
6. i.e. that is
6. IEF Internet Watch Foundation’s
7. IPC The Indian Penal Code, 1860
8. Ltd. Limited
9. POCSO The Protection of Children from
Sexual Offences Act, 2012
10. Sec Section
11. SC Supreme Court
12. UK United Kingdom
13. UN United Nation
14. UNCRC United Nations Convention on the
Rights of the Child
15. US United States
16. Vol Volume

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 ABSTRACT

Pornography comes from the Greek word pornographic, which means "writing about
prostitutes." One of the most common definitions of pornography in modern times is "sexually
explicit text or pictures." This means that the main goal of pornography is to make people feel
sexually aroused. When moral judgments are added to this definition, pornography is seen as
sexually explicit material that is bad because it is meant to make people feel sexually aroused.

Child pornography is when pornographic pictures or videos of children are published or sent
over the Internet. Because the internet and videos on the internet are easy to get to, there has
been more child pornography in recent years. Child pornography is the worst crime that can
happen, and it has led to sex tourism, sexual abuse of children, and other crimes.

Almost everywhere in the West, laws against child pornography give producers and distributors
harsh punishments, which usually include jail time. For non-commercial distribution, the
length of the sentence depends on how much and what kind of material was distributed.

The growth of child pornography is mostly due to two things: the invention and availability of
home movies, videos, digital cameras, computers, and software, which made it easy and cheap
to make child pornography, and the growth of Internet technology, which has made it much
easier to make and share this kind of material. For people who want to do sexual things with
children, the Internet is a new, effective, and more anonymous way to find them and get them
ready.

Keywords

Child pornography; sexual abuse of children; social media, technology, and the Internet; and
child abuse that happens online.

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 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Networks of people who hurt children are growing all over the world right now. The rate at
which children are hurt on the internet is alarmingly rising. People who use online services as
their new playgrounds take advantage of or try to get sexual contact with many children. The
Indian Parliament passed the Information Technology Amendment Act 2008 in December
2008, and the President signed it into law in 2009. The Amendment Act has a new section 67B
that makes it illegal to electronically show children doing sexually explicit things or to abuse
children online. The law also says what the punishment should be for breaking this law. A new
subsection 2(ha) also adds the term "communication device," which includes cell phones, to
the definition of "computer network." There are many reasons for this rise, and this paper talks
about some of them. This paper also looked at the rise of child pornography, the different cases
that have happened in India, and how the law works in India.

What is Online abuse?

"Online" refers to all kinds of information and communication technologies, such as the
internet, cell phones, etc. Abuse that takes place on the internet is called "online abuse." It can
happen on computers, tablets, and phones, as well as any other device that can connect to the
web. And it can happen anywhere online, like on social media, text messages and messaging
apps, emails, online chats, online games, and live-streaming sites. Some current ways that
children are abused or exploited online are:

• Cyberbullying includes emotional harassment, defamation and public exposure, social

exclusion, and intimidation.
• Online sexual abuse includes the sharing of sexually explicit and violent content and
sexual harassment.
• Online sexual exploitation includes the creation, distribution, and use of child
pornography (CSAM), "sextortion," and "revenge pornography."

Children can be abused online by people they know or by people they don't know. It could be
related to other kinds of online abuse, like bullying or "grooming." Or, the abuse could happen
only online.

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Who is a Child?

Section 2(d) of the POCSO Act, 2012, says that "child" means "any person under the age of
18”1: A person's mental age does not make him or her a "Child" according to the POCSO Act.
In the case of MS. EERA THROUGH DR. MANJULA KRIPPENDORF v. STATE (GOVT.
OF NCT OF DELHI), the Court was hearing an appeal from a sexual assault victim with
Cerebral Palsy, which makes her mental age no more than 6–8 years old even though she is 38
years old. Under Section 2(d) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012
(POCSO Act), the bench of Justice Dipak Misra refused to expand the definition of "child" to
include a person's "mental age" or the age determined by the current science of psychiatry. This
would have allowed a mentally retarded or extremely intellectually challenged person who has
passed the biological age of 18 to be included in the definition of "child" as a whole.2

The literal meaning of the word "pornography" is "describing or showing sexual acts in order
to cause sexual stimulation through books, movies, etc." This would include pornographic
websites, pornographic material made on computers, and using the internet to download and
send pornographic videos, writings, pictures, photos, etc. On the internet, adult entertainment
is a very big business. Today, there are more than 420 million people who visit pornographic
websites. POCSO's new definition of child pornography says that it is "any visual depiction of
sexually explicit conduct involving a child." This includes any photograph, video, digital, or
computer-generated image that looks exactly like a real child, as well as any image that was
made, changed, or adapted to look like a child

A Debate on Pornography or Obscenity

Obscenity is defined as "offensively or grossly indecent or lewd law of publication with the
intent to deprave and corrupt those who are likely to read, see, or hear the contents." This shows
that this act is likely to cause criminal intent. In the case of R.D.Udeshi vs. State of
Maharashtra3, the Supreme Court said that what is obscene has to be decided on a case-by-case
basis. But the highest court argued that it was the court's job to look at the whole work and
decide if there was anything obscene in it. It was also decided that an overall look at the obscene
material in the context of the whole work would be necessary, but that the obscene material
must be looked at separately and on its own to find out if it violates the law. If it's so gross and

1
POCSO Act, 2012
2
(2017) 15 SCC 133
3
AIR 1965 SC 881

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obscene that it's likely to change the minds of people who are open to this kind of influence,
and the book is likely to end up in their hands, then it's gross and obscene.

Podophiles: A psychological disorder

People who have paedophilia are sexually attracted to prepubescent children, who are usually
younger than 11 years old and don't have pubic or armpit hair, small vagina, small penis, and
no or little breast development. Paedophilia didn't become a big deal in India until Freddy Peats
was caught in 1991. He was accused of making boys do gay things against their will and of
having drugs and pornographic material. Freddy Peats, who says he is both English and Indian,
has lived in Goa for more than ten years.

After he was arrested, investigations showed that Peats ran a place where boys between the
ages of 6 -16 were forced to work as prostitutes, mostly for German tourists.4 The National
Women's Commission has found that 80 percent of the country's child prostitutes come from
five major cities. One of those cities is Bangalore. Based When the Karnataka State
Commission for Women looked into it more, they found a major smuggling ring that brought
girls from poor rural families to Goa and forced them to work in the flesh trade. Goa's beaches
in Calangute, Candolim, and Baga have been turned into a paradise for people who like to
watch people. The same thing is happening in Kerala and Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu.

In October 2019, the CBI filed a case against seven Indians who were allegedly part of an
international WhatsApp group that shared and uploaded child pornography. German authorities
found the online paedophile group and told the FIR about it. At least 62 names of people in
Gujarat who are suspected of being child pornographers have been sent to the state's crime
investigation department in 2019. These people are thought to have downloaded, watched, and
shared child pornography on social media, especially on WhatsApp5

4
State vs. Fredd Peats and Others, Sessions Case No. 24/1992. Crl Appeal No. 4/1996
5
Child_Pornography_and_its_Legal_Frameword.com

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 CHAPTER 2: INTERNATIONAL LAWS INTERNATIONAL ASPECTS
CONCERNING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

Child pornography is a multi‐jurisdictional problem to which a global approach must be

applied. Successfully combating child pornography and child exploitation on a global scale
requires uniform legislation; laws that vary from country to country serve to weaken the stance
against child sexual exploitation and allow child predators to concentrate efforts in countries
where they know they are best able to exploit children. A holistic and uniform approach is the
most effective means of combating the sexual exploitation of children because it allows for
consistency in criminalization and punishment, it raises public awareness of the problem, it
increases services available to assist victims, and it improves overall law enforcement efforts
at the national and international levels. Complying with international legal standards is an
initial step in addressing child pornography, to be followed by national implementing
legislation and the creation of a national legislative scheme to combat child pornography.

There are three main international legal instruments that address child pornography: · The
Optional Protocol to the (U.N.) Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children,
Child Prostitution and Child Pornography; · The Council of Europe’s Convention on
Cybercrime; and · The Council of Europe’s Convention on the Protection of Children against
Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse.

All three are effective tools for combating the sexual exploitation and abuse of children because
they contain specific definitions of offenses as well as provisions requiring punishment for
criminalized behaviour, allowing for the more effective prosecution of perpetrators. The
Optional Protocol and the Convention on the Protection of Children also serve as
comprehensive examples of legal mechanisms that require governments to implement and
provide for services to assist child victims and their families.

In addition to these three international legal instruments, the European Union has adopted a
Directive on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child
pornography. All EU Member States are required to come into compliance with the Directive
by the end of 2013. In comparison with the Council of Europe’s Convention on the Protection
of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, The directive establishes more
explicit guidelines for criminal legislation regarding sexual abuse and exploitation of children.
In particular, The directive provides recommendations for terms of imprisonment for certain

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offenses; it describes measures for the treatment of offenders; and contains provisions on
supporting and protecting child victims with a focus on the best interests of the child.

India is a signatory to many international instruments and declarations about the rights of
children to protection, security, and dignity. It acceded to the United Nations Convention on
the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in 1992, reaffirming its earlier acceptance of the 1959 UN
Declaration on the Rights of the Child and is fully committed to the implementation of all
provisions of the UNCRC. In 2005, the Government of India accepted the two Optional
Protocols to the UNCRC, addressing the involvement of children in armed conflict and the sale
of children, child prostitution and child pornography. India is strengthening its national policy
and measures to protect children from these dangerous forms of violence and exploitation.
India is also a signatory to the International Conventions on Civil and Political Rights, and
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights apply to the human rights of children as much as adults.

Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography. While
the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) aims to ensure a broad range of human rights
for children – including civil, cultural, economic, political, and social rights – there are Articles
within the CRC and an Optional Protocol to the CRC that address child sexual exploitation.

Article 34 of the CRC clearly states that preventive measures should be taken to address the
sexual exploitation of children: States Parties undertake to protect the child from all forms of
sexual exploitation and sexual abuse. For these purposes, States Parties shall, in particular, take
all appropriate national, bilateral and multilateral measures to prevent the the exploitative use
of children in pornographic performances and materials.

The CRC Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography
(Optional Protocol) entered into force on 18 January 2002. Specific to child pornography:

Article 2(c) defines child pornography as any representation, by whatever means, of a child
engaged in real or simulated explicit sexual activities or any representation of the sexual parts
of a child for primarily sexual purposes.

Article 3(1) requires States Parties to criminalize child pornography, whether committed
domestically or transnationally, on an individual or organized basis.

Article 3(1)(c) requires States Parties to criminalize simple possession regardless of the intent
to distribute.

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Article 3(4) addresses the liability of legal persons and encourages each State Party to establish
such liability for offenses specific to child pornography. This article reflects the notion that a
comprehensive approach requires industry involvement.

Article 10(1) addresses the need for international cooperation. As mentioned above, child
pornography is readily distributed across borders; without international cooperation, many
offenders may evade apprehension.

Comparative analysis of legislations of the United Kingdom and India

The United Kingdom passed its legislation for children in the year 2003, similarly, the amended
legislation of South Africa was passed in the year 2007 and finally, the Indian legislation was
passed in the year 2012. Since the Indian legislation was formed after looking into the United
Kingdom and South African legislation, a look, and comparison with the parent enactment
would help us analyse the deviation and differences between these Acts.

In the United Kingdom, ( UK ) this legislation is called as Sexual Offences Act, 2003 , in India,
The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 and in South Africa Criminal Law
(Sexual Offenses and Related Matters) Amendment Act, 2007 .

The Act to protect children in the UK was legislated with the object to prevent and protect the
children from harm from sexual acts. The South African Act emphasizes the need to address
the vulnerability of children and also highlights the social phenomenon of child abuse which
seeks to make the society dysfunctional whereas the Indian Act was urgent legislation enacted
to fulfill the need of the hour to check and prevent an increase in the number of child sex abuse
cases.

there are different kinds of age differentiation made concerning children. In the UK, an offense
on a child below thirteen is severally punished and the other category for children is sixteen
years i.e. for serious sexual offenses. In South Africa, children are defined as those being under
eighteen, however, another category has also been created wherein, children between twelve
and sixteen years, if they indulge in sexual activities with each other, both may be prosecuted
with the permission of the relevant authority. In India, the differentiation is concerning the age
of consent. In certain cases, wherein the child is between sixteen and eighteen years of age, the
Court would seek to find whether there was consent between the child and the adult or not.

In the UK, the offense of penetration is called rape i.e. when the penetration is done by the
penis. The UK Act also includes assault on a child under the age of thirteen by penetration,

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without the use of the penis, but with the use of any part of the body or any such object. Both
these offenses would lead to life imprisonment. In the UK, the age-limit of thirteen is of
significance, as any such offense on a child below thirteen is met with graver punishment. Even
if a person incites a child i.e. below sixteen to engage in sexual activity leading to penetration,
the person would be liable to a maximum imprisonment of fourteen years. In the present world,
where there has been an increase in the misuse of positions by authorities, it is surprising to see
that the South African Act does not take a stern stand on this issue. It becomes one of the
important provisions, since it is also seen that such persons may use their influence to hide such
cases.

The UK and the Indian Act both punish a a family member who commits a sexual offense on
a child. A family member is the person who may be a parent, grandparent, brother, sister, half-
brother, half-sister, aunt or uncle, foster parent, step-parent, cousins, step-brother or sister, who
lives in the same household and is regularly involved in caring for, training, supervising or
being the sole in-charge. In India, a relative is defined a relative of the child through blood or
adoption or marriage or guardianship or in foster care, or having a domestic relationship with
a parent of the child, or who are living in the same or shared the household with the child. the
analysis of the three enactments would show that all the three legislations have been formulated
according to the societal needs of the country. The UK Act seems to be the most comprehensive
as it outlines everything and has a separate provision for all kinds of acts and offenses. The
punishment for the offenses is also stricter than the other two countries. On the other hand, the
age of children is taken to be below sixteen years. This again varies from one country to the
other.

In India, the Act does aim to combine the above two legislations to the extent possible,
including the changes that might be needed as per the needs of the society. A child is defined
as being below eighteen years, but the age of consent is between sixteen to eighteen years.
There are no provisions concerning grooming or traveling to commit a sexual act.

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 CHAPTER 3: INDIAN LEGAL PROVISONS AND PUNISHMENTS RELATED
CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

Rational Behind Commencement Of POCSO Act In India:

The Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, is a law that the
government made to deal with sexual abuse of children. As of November 14, 2012, both the
Act and the rules made under it are now in effect.

The POCSO Act, 2012 is a comprehensive law that protects children from crimes like sexual
assault, sexual harassment, and pornography. It also protects the child's best interests at every
step of the legal process by putting in place child-friendly ways to report crimes, record
evidence, investigate them, and get them tried quickly in Special Courts.

Following are the Objectives of POCSO Act

First, to keep kids safe from: a) sexual assault, b) sexual harassment, and c) pornography.

Second, to set up special courts to try these cases quickly. In the case of In Re: Alarming Rise
in Reported Child Rape Cases6,The Supreme Court said, "We have decided that the following
directions should be given immediately to the Union of India and the State Governments:"

If there are more than 100 cases under the POCSO Act in each district of the country, an
exclusive/designated special court will be set up. This court will only hear cases under the
POCSO Act and will not hear any other cases.

Such Courts will be set up under a Central scheme and will be paid for by the Central
Government. This fund will not only pay for the appointment of the Presiding Officer, but also
for the appointment of support persons, Special Public Prosecutors, Court staff, and
infrastructure, such as the creation of child-friendly environments and vulnerable witness Court
rooms, etc.According to the NCRB's 2016 report on cybercrimes in India, 46 people were
charged with publishing pictures of children doing sexually explicit things.7

6
(2019) 8 SCC 300
7
NCRB Report 2016
(http://ncrb.gov.in/StatPublications/CII/CII2016/pdfs/Crime%20Statistics%20%202016.pdf)

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According to information from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the State of
Jharkhand had the most cases filed under Section 14 and Section 15 of the POCSO Act, 2012,
in 2016.

Under Section 14 of the POCSO Act of 2012, anyone who uses a child or children for
pornographic purposes is subject to either a fine or jail time that can last up to five years, or
both. Also, Section 15 says that anyone who stores any kind of pornographic material about a
child for commercial purposes will be fined or put in jail for up to three years, depending on
the type of material. In 2019, the Amendment added section 2(da), and even section 14 was
amended.8

The Information Technology Act ,2000.

There was no legislation in India that expressly targeted internet child pornography prior to the
passage of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008 (IT Act). Obscenity laws were
used to control child pornography9. For instance, the accused was charged with violating
Sections 67 of the IT Act (Publication and transmission of obscene content) and 292 of the
Indian Penal Code in a 2008 case before the Delhi High Court after a pornographic MMS of
children was shared online on a well-known website (Sale of obscene material).10 Citing the
absence of particular law, Murlidhar, J said that India "may wish to adopt an alternative legal
model to control the use of the internet with a view to forbidding its use for propagating child
pornographic materials...the job merits the greatest attention."

The necessity for universally criminalising the creation and dissemination of internet child
pornography was at this time gaining support from the worldwide community. In order to
achieve this, the CRC-OP, or the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the
11
Child, called on state parties to prohibit child pornography. The convention was signed by
India on November 15, 2004, and it was approved on August 16, 2006. The Standing

8
Substituted by Act 25 of 2019
(https://Ycd.nic.in/sites/defaWlt/ſles/Protection%20of%20Children%20From%20SeZWal%20Offences%20
%28Amendment%29%20Act%2C%202019.pdf)
9
Some laws which prohibit obscenity include the Indian Penal Code, 1860, Section 292-294; Information
Technology Act, Section 67; The Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986, Section 4; ; The
Dramatic Performances Act, 1876 Section 3; The Cable Television Networks Rules, 1994 Rule 6(1)(k). The
Young Persons (Harmful Publications) Act, 1956 specifically criminalises distribution, sale or exhibition of
publications which show young persons involved in any offence, including obscenity.
10
Avinish Bajaj v State, Crl. M.C. 3066 of 2006
11
The protocol defines Child pornography as “any representation, by whatever means, of a child engaged in real
or simulated explicit sexual activities or representation of the sexual parts of a child, the dominant characteristics
of which is depiction for

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Committee and Expert Committee to the IT(Amendment) Bill, 2006 in India both advised that
a specific provision be included to prosecute internet child pornography. As a result, on
October 27, 2009, the IT Act's Section 67B went into effect.12The Indian government
subsequently enacted the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POSCO),
which also makes child pornography illegal. 13

Different facets of child pornography are the focus of the two laws. Pornographic depictions
of children are forbidden under Section 67B, which addresses the aim of child pornography.
On the other hand, child pornography is the focus of Section 14 of POSCO, which forbids and
makes illegal the employment of children in pornographic activities. As a consequence, there
14
are several types of criminal culpability. The child's assent is not relevant under any
legislation. 15

Punishment for Online Child Pornography

Child pornography creation, publishing, and dissemination are all prohibited under the IT
Act.16 Production includes the fabrication of "text and digital photographs," portraying minors
in an offensive, indecent, or sexually explicit way, and documenting "abuse connected to a
sexually explicit conduct.In addition to video, audio, and images, the term is broad enough to
include the criminalization of cartoons, erotica books, and comic books that show young
children engaged in sexual conduct.

The Act forbids "material showing minors in an obscene, indecent, or sexually explicit manner"
from being published, transmitted, advertised, promoted, exchanged, or distributed in any way.
17
Although it is not illegal to consume adult pornography, Section 67B(b) makes it illegal to
search for, download, browse, or store child porn. The maximum sentence for each of these
offences is five years in jail, with an additional seven years for successive offences. If the
information is utilised for "bona fide heritage or religious reasons" or is used "in the service of
science, literature, art, learning, or other objectives of public concern," there is a small
exemption to the law. 18

12
Information Technology (Amendment) Act ,2008. (IT Act).
13
Section 67, IT Act 2000.
14
Sharat Babu Digumarti v. Govt. of NCT of Delhi,Criminal Appeal No. 1222 of 2016
15
Aiswarya v. Inspector of Police 2014 SCC OnLine Ker 16103
16
IT Act, Section 67B(a), (b). A “child” for the purposes of both POSCO and Section 67B of the IT Act as any
person below 18 years of age
17
IT Act. Section 67B(b).
18
Section 292 of the Ind

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The use of children for pornographic purposes in any form of media is prohibited by POSCO.
This includes "a).representation of the sexual organs of a child; (b) usage of a child engaged in
real or simulated sexual acts (with or without penetration); and (c) the indecent or obscene
representation of a child."19Depending on the nature of violation, imprisonment for
contravention may range from six years to life. The storing of any kind of child-related
pornography for commercial gain is likewise prohibited under the Act. Consuming child
pornography for non-commercial purposes is thus not illegal according to POSCO.

Inevitably, one or more intermediates are used to transfer pornographic material.20 Section 79
of the IT Act contains the legal definition of the due diligence defence. A third party is not held
accountable for an offence if it did not I start the communication, (ii) choose the recipient of
the message, (iii) choose or amend the content included in the transmission." According to the
Intermediaries Guidelines, which intermediaries must abide by, violative content must be
disabled within 36 hours of receiving information about it from any affected person. These
guidelines also mandate that intermediaries publish rules informing users not to transmit
pornographic material or materials that can harm minors.

In order to reduce the risk of non-compliance, intermediaries were likely to deactivate any
material upon receiving a complaint, regardless of its legitimacy. This issue has been brought
up by the Supreme Court, who has "read down" the IT ACT and any intermediate rules. 21The
court ruled that content intermediaries are not required to delete material unless they have "real
information that a court order has been issued requiring them to quickly remove or deactivate
access." Any individual with knowledge of an Act violation must also alert the Special Juvenile
Police Unit or the local police, according to POSCO.22There is a six-month jail sentence, a fine,
or a combination of the two for failure to report.

Mechanisms for Enforcing Laws

The National Policy for Children, 2013, lists protecting children from porn as one of its
objectives, however the enforcement of the legislation against child pornography is still
lacking. Only 94 instances under Sections 94 and 95 of POSCO and 8 charges under Section

19
Section 14, POCSO Act.
20
Intermediaries are defined by the IT Act is “any person who on behalf of another person receives, stores or
transmits that message or provides any service with respect to that message”
21
Shreya Singhal v. Union of India (2015) 5 SCC 1 (SC)

22
POSCO, Section 19(1).

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67B of the IT Act were reported in 2015, according to Crime in India 2015. The conclusion of
a UNICEF assessment on child pornography was that "legislation, processes, and services are
23
insufficient to address these dangers and must be updated and improved." The Indian
government has made an effort to strengthen the enforcement of its anti-child pornography
legislation. To prevent and fight cybercrime, an advisory was sent to all State governments.

To receive complaints of child pornography, a nationwide hotline has been set up, along with
an e-box on the website for women and children's welfare.24 In order to strengthen enforcement
procedures, the government has also held stakeholder discussions and thought of establishing
a National Alliance against Online Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation.25

Offenses involving child pornography are taken extremely severely by courts. The Supreme
Court has ruled that all websites that include child pornography must be blocked because of its
concerns about the practise.26

23
UNICEF, Child Online Protection in India (2016), 9
24
National Advisory on Preventing and Combating Cyber Crime against Children, 2012
25
Reply to Shri Ranjan Vichare’s unstarred question no .263 by the Minister for State in the Ministry of Women
and Child Development, Lok Sabha, 3rd February
26
Kamlesh Vaswani v. Union of India, W.P. (c) 177/2013

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 CHAPTER 4 : CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

The legal and procedural barriers to protecting the interests of children on the Internet is vexing.
Definitional difficulties, as well as different cultural and social mores, create difficulties
concerning devising an effective international framework for protecting children online. The
problems are further compounded by different approaches that have been adopted concerning
issues involving the exertion of criminal jurisdiction over activities conducted via the medium
of the Internet, extradition and the obtaining of evidence.

The lack of a consistent and harmonious framework on privacy, content regulation, and
pornography also acts as major obstacles to affecting a workable international strategy to
protect the interests of children on the Internet. However, as the discussion also seeks to the
show, the difficulties are not insurmountable.

What is ultimately important, at the end of the day is that there must be a determination on the
part of all countries to protect children so that an effective legal regime can then be devised.
With a degree of judicial ingenuity in adopting a broad reading of existing offense-creating
provisions in existing criminal statutes, timely legislative intervention to fill in the loopholes
and a fair degree of concerted global co-operation in the field much can be done in the ongoing
the battle to protect children.

It is perhaps apt to end the discussion by reproducing a quote that cuts to the chase and helps
put the issues in perspective:

The children's life is far more important than those sorts of relatively minor concerns about
civil liberties and entrapment. Those are important questions but set them against a child's life,
a child's psychological well-being, and frankly, there's only one possible answer.

Over the recent years, various research regarding the status of child pornography legislation
around the world has demonstrated that slow and steady progress is being made. Various
international legal instruments are in place, which has helped raise awareness and attach new
urgency to this cause. It remains clear, however, that more countries need to take action now if
we are to secure a safer future for the world’s children. While combating child pornography at
home and abroad is a daunting task, harmonization of laws is essential to effectively address
this growing, international phenomenon.

Developing a precise definition of the term ‘obscenity’ is difficult. What may be considered as
obscene in one country may not be considered as obscene in another. It mainly depends on the

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moral and ethical values of the people who belong to a specific country. However, the generic
definition of obscenity refers to an act or speech or item that is likely to corrupt the morality of
the general public because of its indecency or lewdness in content or form.

The exhibition of something offensive to modesty or decency or expression of unchaste or

lustful ideas or being indecent or lewd is considered to be obscene, in most countries. In my
opinion, to control child pornography, we should completely ban porn sites. This stringent
action can solve the problem to a larger extent. This would allow us time to ponder and develop
some innovative approaches to eliminate child pornography over the world. Depiction of
minors, both real and virtual, as well as adults appearing to be minors, in electronic child
pornography, should be prevented by Indian law. Stringent measures must be taken to combat
such heinous abuse.

Following are the recommendations, to curb the offense to child pornography: -

We can Facilitate international multi-agency co-operation to combat the problem of child

sexual exploitation on the Internet at the international, national and local levels and secondly
we can spread awareness and in society and educational institution should make sure that
children are aware about such crimes, so that it can be reported.

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 BIBLIOGHRAPHY

Enactment
· Child Marriage Restraint Act, the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986
· Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act, 2007
· Goa Children's Act, 2003
· Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1986
· Sexual Offenses Act, 2003
· The Criminal Procedure Code, 1973
· The Indian Penal Code, 1860
· The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000
· The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012

Convention
· The Council of Europe’s Convention on Cybercrime, 2001.
· The Council of Europe’s Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual
Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, 2007.
· The Optional Protocol to the (U.N.) Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of
Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography,2002
· UN Declaration on the Rights of the Child, 1989
· United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1992

Books
· Akdeniz, Yaman, Internet child pornography and the law: national and international
responses (Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. 2008)
· Ann W. Burgess & C.R. Hartman, Child Abuse Aspects of Child Pornography, 7
Psychiatric Annals (1987).

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