Cybercrime against children

(A Comparative Study Between Laws of India, Australia, France, and

Canada)
(Comparative Criminal Law)

Submitted to

Ms. Areena Parveen Ansari

Assistant Professor of Law
DNLU, Jabalpur

By

Mayuri Khandelwal
LL. M 2nd Semester Student (011)

Submitted On: 29.05.2021

Dharmashastra National Law University, Jabalpur

The first question which arises is why protection against cybercrime so important? Well
looking at the present scenario in the world, Where the children have an unlimited access to
the internet and very less supervision by the adults because of their busy lifestyle. The
internet provides immense opportunities to its users, at the same time, there are numerous
corresponding risks. While our country progresses rapidly towards a Digital India, it is
imperative to ensure that effective legal mechanisms for the safety and security of internet
users are in place.
The paper is divided into 3 main Segments:- the first part is the introduction and it deals with
the meaning of Cyber Crime against children and its types.
The Second Part deals with the laws and policies in India, Australia, France and Canada for
the protection of children and penalties for the perpetrators .
And Lastly the third part deals with the recommendations in the current legislation and
policies in India.

Let us first understand what is Cyber Crime? Well a simple definition according to the
oxford dictionary:- Cybercrime is an offence carried out anonymously by any person in the
garb of the internet1. Cybercrime most of time is an attack on information about individuals,
corporations, or governments and it take place on the personal or corporate virtual
body which is given on internet.

People use social networking sites for information, communications, messages, letters,
court summons, e-mails etc. across the world. With the advance technology even during
lockdown period all the school and colleges classes are going on-line. Even small children
are accustomed to the use of technology. Technology allows perpetrators to act
anonymously and provides them access to a large, vulnerable population including children.
Teenagers around the world, addicted to social media platforms such as WhatsApp,
Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat, are easy targets for perpetrators of cybercrime 2. While
children are often oblivious to the dangers associated with cyber space, parents find it
difficult to protect them from cybercrimes as they lack awareness of the legal remedies
available under national and international law.

1
https://en.oxford cyber dictionaries.com/definition/cybercrime
2
http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/09/teens-social-media-technology-2015/
The development of internet nowadays have both a positive impact as well as negative
impact in the form of crime that targets everyone, including children. Cybercrime which
impact children as a victim should be handled seriously. By using computer, attacks are done
by cyber terrorism such as hacking, spam, virus, credit card fraud, trafficking
in pornography, posting obscene photograph, sending fake e-mails to get personal
information, misusing personal information, digital piracy, money laundering, and
counterfeiting, altering data for either profit or political objectives, violating privacy by
stealing identity. Offenders use false identities in chat room to lure victims for personal
meetings which leads to child abuse and exploitation such as trafficking and sex tourism.
The child never knows the person with whom he or she is chatting. It is only when they
happen to meet each other in person that they see a person who may be an old man in their
40’s or 50’s with whom they were chatting and realize their mistake. Many children commit
suicide when their offensive pictures are posted online. Children often avoid telling
their parents or anyone about this mistake as they are afraid or there is a threat which causes
further more trouble.

The victims of online exploitation are forced to live with their abuse for the rest of their
lives. It also affects the overall mental development of children. Children often unknowingly
or deliberately share personal information without realizing that by just
forwarding illegal message they can be made to suffer penal charges and can be punished for
the crime committed by them. Facebook photographs, whatsapp messages are uploaded and
shared by children without knowing the gravity of things and the impact that will it have on
their future. The internet is being highly used by its abusers to reach and abuse children
sexually, globally.

Child sexual exploitation online includes:

 Child sexual abuse material – Actual, but also fictitious, written depictions of child
sexual abuse, audio, video, and images, also known as child pornography;
 Self-generated materials and sexting – Youth-generated explicit images/videos on the
Internet, which are often further distributed without consent;
 Sextortion – Use of coercion and threats to extort child sexual exploitation
images/videos from youth (either by other youth or adult offenders);
  Grooming and luring – Use of applications and platforms to connect with children
and youth for the purpose of sexually exploiting them;
 Live child sexual abuse streaming – Viewing of child sexual abuse in real-time, often
involves the offender directing the abuse; and
 Made-to-order content – Ordering videos/images to suit offenders’ preferences.

INDIA
“Almost every school-going child has access to social media these days, but shockingly
hardly any of them know about the privacy settings on their profiles. With details of their
personal lives going public, they make themselves vulnerable to all sorts of cyber
harassment.”

An international study done by software giant Microsoft in 2012 revealed that 53% of India’s
children have been bullied online. The child goes into various faces like social isolation, few
general friendships, negative attitudes and ignorance, difficulty being accepted in activities,
schools, workplace, etc. Further, privacy and expectations for life and achievements are
reduced.

In India Online offences against children are covered by a series of legislation –

(i) The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 is an
essential piece of legislation that specifically addresses sexual offences
committed against children. POCSO criminalises cybercrime against children
including child pornography, cyber stalking, cyber bullying, defamation,
grooming, hacking, identity theft, online child trafficking, online extortion, sexual
harassment, violation of privacy.
(ii) The Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000 is the primary law dealing with
cybercrimes against children and adults in India. It is supplemented by various
Rules that have been framed under it.
(iii) The Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860 protects individuals including children, from
all crimes. The IPC covers certain cybercrimes that are variants of traditional
crimes such as theft, cheating, forgery, mischief and defamation. In certain cases,
these legislative provisions overlap and an accused may be charged with a series
of offences under the relevant provisions of IPC, POCSO and the IT Act. If an
 accused is convicted under all three acts, he/she is punished under the provision
that provides the greater punishment.

Pornography has been defined as the sexual explicit depiction of persons, in words or
images, created with the primary, proximate aim and reasonable hope, of eliciting significant
sexual arousal on the part of the consumer of such material. Child Pornography is an illegal
act in India. Information Technology Act, 2000 and Indian Penal Code, 1860 gives
protection against the child pornography. Child is referred who is below the age of 18 years.
The Information Technology Act is a set of rules which make it illegal to transmit or create
or surf child pornography in electronic form. The above Act covers websites, graphics files,
SMS, MMS, digital. Photographs, abusing children online or records in any electronic form
pertaining to sexually explicit act with children. The Act also includes repeated calls, SMSs,
blank calls, threatening calls and even sending MMSs. Girls and Women victims often
compliant of mobile phone harassment.

Under The Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008, crime of Child Pornography
under Section 67-B which clearly highlight that whoever publishes or transmits or causes to
be published or transmitted material in any electronic form that depicts children engaged in
sexually explicit act or conduct or creates text or digital images, collects, seeks, browses,
downloads, advertises, promotes, exchanges or distributes material in any electronic form.

Digital Exploitation of Children

“Police” and “Public Order” are State subjects as per the Constitution of India. States/UTs
are primarily responsible for prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of crimes
including crimes related to exploitation of children; through their law enforcement
machinery. The law enforcement agencies take legal action as per provisions of law against
persons involved in digital sexual exploitation/ abuse of children. The Information
Technology (IT) Act, 2000 has adequate provisions to deal with prevailing cybercrimes.
Section 67B of the Act specifically provides stringent punishment for publishing, browsing
or transmitting child pornography in electronic form.

Ministry of Home Affairs has approved a scheme namely ‘Cyber Crime Prevention against
Women and Children (CCPWC)’ under which an online Cyber Crime reporting portal,
(www.cybercrime.gov.in) has been launched to enable public to report complaints
pertaining to Child Pornography/ Child Sexual Abuse Material, rape/gang rape imageries or
sexually explicit content. This portal facilitates the public to lodge complaints anonymously
or through Report and track option. Steps have also been taken to spread awareness, issue of
alerts/advisories, training of law enforcement agencies, improving cyber forensic facilities
etc. These steps help to prevent such cases and speed up investigation. A handbook on
Cyber Safety for Adolescents/Students has been released (Copy available
on www.cybercrime.gov.in and www.mha.gov.in) and sent to all States/ Union Territories
for wide circulation. Cyber Crime awareness campaign has been launched through twitter
handle (@CyberDost) and radio across the country.

The Ministry of Women and Child Development had enacted the Protection of Children
from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO Act) as a special law to protect children from
offences of sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography. Section 13 to Section 15
deals with the issue of child pornography.

Section 14 and Section 15 lays down the punishment for using child for pornographic
purposes and for storage of pornographic material involving child.

Further Section 28 of the POCSO Act 2012 provides for establishment of Special Courts for
the purpose of providing speedy trial of offences under the Act.

Section 43 of the POCSO Act, 2012 provides that the Central Government and every State
Government takes all measures to give wide publicity to the provisions of the Act. In
accordance with this, MWCD has taken various steps from time to time to create awareness
of the provisions of the POCSO Act through electronic and print media, consultations,
workshops and training programmes with stakeholders concerned. Further, National
Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and State Commission for Protection
of Child Rights (SCPCRs) are also mandated to monitor the implementation of the POCSO
Act, 2012.

Government has taken a number of steps to be implemented by Internet Service Providers

(ISPs) to protect children from sexual abuse online. These include:
  Government blocks the websites containing extreme Child sexual Abuse Material
(CSAM) based on INTERPOL’s “Worst-of-list” shared periodically by Central
Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which is the National Nodal Agency for Interpol. The
list is shared with Department of Telecommunications (DoT), who then directs
major ISPs to block such websites.
 Government ordered major Internet Service Providers(ISPs) in India to adopt and
disable/remove the online CSAM dynamically based on Internet Watch Foundation
(IWF), UK list.
 Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has implemented a
major programme on Information Security Education and Awareness (ISEA). A
dedicated website for information security awareness
(https://www.infosecawareness.in) has also been set up3.

The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act had been amended in 2019
to include the definition of child pornography under Section 2(da) and punishment provided
under Section 14 and Section 15 of the Act.

Further the Government has taken several steps to tackle cybercrime against children. These,
inter alia include :

i. Provisions to deal with cybercrime against children under Information Technology

(IT) Act, 2000. Section 67B of the Act provides stringent punishment for publishing,
browsing or transmitting of material depicting children in sexually explicit act, etc. in
electronic form. Further, sections 354A and 354D of Indian Penal Code, 1860
provide punishment for cyber bullying and cyber stalking.
ii. The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics
Code) Rules, 2021 notified under the IT Act, specifies that the intermediaries shall
inform the users of computer resource not to host, display, upload, modify, publish,
transmit, update or share any information that is, inter alia, obscene, pornographic,
paedophilic, harms minor in any way; violates any law for the time being in force;
etc.
iii. Government periodically blocks the websites containing extreme child sexual abuse
material (CSAM) based on INTERPOL’s “worst of list” received through Central
Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the national nodal agency for Interpol in India.
3
https://pib.gov.in/Pressreleaseshare.aspx?PRID=1579351
 iv. Government has issued an order to concerned Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to
work out a suitable arrangement for receiving Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), UK
list of CSAM websites/webpages on a dynamic basis and block access to child
pornography webpages/websites.
v. Department of Telecommunication has requested all Internet Service Providers (ISPs)
to make suitable arrangement to spread awareness among their subscribers about the
use of parental control filters in the end-user machines through messages of email,
invoices, SMS, website, etc.
vi. Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has issued guidelines on to schools on
the safe and secure use of Internet. This circular directs schools to install effective
firewalls, filtering and monitoring software mechanisms in all the computers and
deploy effective security policies.
vii. The Government is implementing a comprehensive central sector scheme, namely
“Centre for Cyber Crime Prevention against Women and Children (CCPWC)” to
handle all issues related to check all cyber-crime against women and children
including child pornography.
viii. National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, www.cybercrime.gov.in has been launched
by the Government to enable citizens to online report complaints pertaining to all
types of cybercrimes with special focus on cybercrimes against women and children.
A nation-wide helpline number [155260] is also made functional to help public in
filing complaints through the portal.
ix. The Government has published a handbook for Adolescents/Students on Cyber
Safety, in order to make them aware about various types of cybercrimes and how to
protect themselves from such crimes. The handbook is also shared on NCERT
website by Ministry of Education.
x. To strengthen the mechanism to deal with cybercrimes in a comprehensive and
coordinated manner, the Central Government has taken steps for spreading awareness
about cybercrimes; issuance of alerts/advisories; capacity building/ training of law
enforcement personnel/prosecutors/ judicial officers; improving cyber forensic
facilities; etc.
xi. The Government is implementing a scheme of ‘Indian Cyber Crime Coordination
Centre (I4C)’ to deal with cybercrimes in a coordinated and comprehensive manner4.

4
https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1706002
AUSTRALIA
In Australian states and territories, CEM refers to “Child Exploitation Material”, otherwise
known as child abuse material, child sexual abuse material (CSAM), and child pornography.
For digital forensic examiners, telecommunications-based child exploitation includes
viewing, copying, downloading, sending, exchanging, soliciting, and making CEM.

Australian CEM Law

Australian states and territories follow Commonwealth legislation against this kind of
material, including offences of exploitation using services such as the Internet. Offences in
the Australian Criminal Code can include sexual activity that occurs remotely, such as
causing a child to engage in sexual activity or even using live webcam or peer-to-peer
networks5.

Australian Federal Police Child Protection uses domestic legislation to ensure all types of
illegal conduct are captured.

Child sexual exploitation is comprehensively criminalised under the Criminal Code Act 1995
(Cth):

• Division 474 creates offences relating to the use of a carriage service to transmit, access,
produce, procure, groom etc.

• Division 272 expressly criminalises the procuring of a child under 16 by an Australian

overseas for sexual exploitation in Australia.

• Division271creates an offence of child trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation

encompassing both domestic trafficking and the trafficking of children into Australia
for an exploitative purpose.

• The AFP can also use its extra-territorial powers (under the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth))
to prosecute Australian child sex offenders who offend outside our borders. AFP
Child Protection also consult with state and territory partners to ensure the most
appropriate offences are being applied in accordance with state and territory
legislation.
5
https://www.adfsolutions.com/news/what-is-cem-child-exploitation-material
AFP Child Protection provide input and feedback for legislative reform and policy to ensure
legislative frameworks remain relevant and fit-for-purpose. The AFP is committed to
adhering to the Commonwealth Child Safe Framework by undertaking annual risk
assessments to evaluate the risk of harm to children, ensuring training and compliance
regimes are in place and monitored to comply with child safety requirements. Under the
Framework, the AFP also complies with legislation in relation to working with children and
vulnerable people and mandatory reporting requirements. The AFP has adopted and is
implementing the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations as part of the Framework
requirements.

Australia is an international signatory to the:

• Convention on the Rights of the Child, and its optional protocols on the sale of children,
child prostitution, and child pornography

• Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or

Punishment

• We PROTECT Global Alliance

• Voluntary Principles to Counter Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse6

Prosecuting child exploitation

Offences targeting those who exploit children via services such as the internet, telephone and
the post are contained in Commonwealth legislation. There are a number of serious offences
involving use of these telecommunications services including; an adult engaging in sexual
activity with a child under 16, an adult procuring and grooming a child under 16 for sexual
activity, and a person transmitting, accessing and soliciting child abuse or child pornography
material of a child under 18 years.

Offences are also committed by Australians against children who are living overseas. This
can be in circumstances where the offender travels overseas to engage in sexual activity or
where the offences occur over the internet through sexual acts online, The transmission of
material or where children are procured and groomed.

6
https://www.afp.gov.au/sites/default/files/PDF/18062020-AFPChildProtectionPlan2020-2022.pdf
A large proportion of this work involves victims, particularly child victims. Prosecutors in
this area work closely with investigators and Witness Assistance Service to ensure that
victims are treated with dignity, courtesy and respect. The CDPP 7 Victims of Crime Policy
sets out an important framework for engaging with victims of crime and their families, where
appropriate.

Child sex offences outside Australia

Division 272 of the Criminal Code focuses on child sex offences committed outside
Australia by Australian citizens and permanent residents, ranging from possessing child
pornography and child abuse material, to engaging in sexual activity with children overseas.
Division 474 offences may also apply where the technology is used to enable the offence to
occur remotely.

It is also an offence to encourage or benefit from these types of offences or to do an act

preparing or planning to commit a sex offence against a child overseas. It is an offence for
certain offenders with reporting obligations under child protection offender registers to travel
overseas without permission.

Main offences

 s 272.8 and s 272.9 Criminal Code 8 Sexual intercourse/ sexual activity with child
outside Australia
 s 474.25A Criminal Code Using carriage service for sexual activity with a person
under 16 years of age
 s.474.19(1) Criminal Code—use carriage service for child pornography material
(material regarding child under 18 years of age)
 s.474.26(1) Criminal Code—use carriage service to procure person under 16 years of
age
 s.474.27A(1) Criminal Code—use carriage service to transmit indecent
communication to person under 16 years of age
 s.233BAB(5) Customs Act 19019—importation of tier 2 goods.

7
The Office of the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) is an independent prosecution
service established by Parliament to prosecute offences against Commonwealth law
8
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2021C00183
9
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2021C00197
Penalties

High maximum penalties for some offences reflect the community’s abhorrence of the
exploitation of children. Maximum penalties range from 25 years’ imprisonment for
Persistent sexual abuse of a child outside Australia - s. 272.11; 15 years’ imprisonment for
Accessing child pornography material of a person aged under 18, to 7 years’ imprisonment
for using a carriage service to transmit indecent communication to a person under 16 years of
age10.

There are higher maximum penalties for aggravated offences, such as where the offending
conduct takes place on three or more occasions and involves two or more people, or where
the sexual activity involves a child with a mental impairment or a child who is under the
care, supervision or authority of the defendant.

FRANCE

A nation-wide operation was led by the French Gendarmerie with the support of Europol that
targeted suspects who sexually exploited children online has netted 14 arrests. Code-named
‘Horus’ the operation took place between 16 and 20 November 2020. The alleged suspects
used social media networks to approach minors aged between 12 and 13 and lured them into
sharing intimate images and videos. The arrested suspects are said to have had no links
between them and three have already been sentenced. With investigations still ongoing,
operation Horus has contributed to identifying eight potential victims and the seizure of 1058
illicit images.

According to French Penal Code Taking, recording, or transmitting a picture or

representation of a minor with a view to circulating it, where that image or representation has
a pornographic character, is punished with five years’ imprisonment and a fine of €75,000.
The same penalty applies to offering or distributing such a picture or representation by any
means, and to importing or exporting it, or causing it to be imported or exported. The
penalties are increased to seven years’ imprisonment and a fine of €100,000 where use was
made of a public communications network in order to circulate the image or representation
of a minor. Possessing such an image or representation is punished by two years’
imprisonment and a fine of €30,000 (about U.S. $41,100).

10
https://www.cdpp.gov.au/crimes-we-prosecute/child-exploitation
The offenses described above are punished with ten years’ imprisonment and a fine of
€500,000 (about U.S. $685,000) where they are committed by an organized gang. These
provisions also apply to the pornographic images of a person whose physical appearance is
that of a minor, unless it is proved that the person was over eighteen on the day his picture
was taken or recorded11. Apart from these legislation France is also a part various treaties.

France is a part of Europol which is an European Union’s law enforcement agency.

Headquartered in The Hague, the Netherlands, and it supports the 27 EU Member States in
their fight against terrorism, cybercrime and other serious and organised forms of crime.

Europol provided support during the action days with operational analysis and real-time
database cross-checks to enable the identification of potential suspects and victims.

Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) supports competent authorities in Member

States in preventing and detecting all forms of criminality associated with the sexual
exploitation of children. It provides assistance and expertise in combating the distribution of
child abuse material through all kinds of online environments and tackles all forms of
criminal online behaviour against children, such as grooming, self-generated illicit material,
sexual extortion and live-streaming12.

The Budapest Convention on Cybercrime is aimed at modernising criminal law provisions to

prevent computer systems from being used to facilitate sexual abuse and exploitation of
children.

The Convention seeks to strengthen protective measures for children against sexual exploitation
by criminalizing various aspects of the electronic production, possession and distribution of child
pornography (Article 9).

Furthermore, the Convention introduces procedural law measures and sets up a fast and effective
regime of international cooperation to enable criminal justice authorities to effectively
investigate cybercrime, including offences related to sexual exploitation and abuse against
children.

THE LANZAROTE CONVENTION

11
https://www.loc.gov/law/help/child-rights/france.php#_ftnref82
12
https://www.europol.europa.eu/newsroom/news/france-arrests-14-suspects-in-sweep-against-child-sexual-
abuse-online
The Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and
Sexual Abuse, also known as the Lanzarote Convention, is a major step forward in the
prevention of sexual offences against children, the prosecution of perpetrators and the protection
of child victims.

The Convention contains many references to the use of information and communication
technologies in the context of the sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children. For example,
it requires states to criminalise conduct such as knowingly accessing child pornography on the
Internet.

Article 20 of the Lanzarote Convention was inspired by Article 9 of the Budapest

Convention, thus the two treaties complement each other13.

Recently France has introduced a new law to protect young social media stars. The
legislation aims to regulate the hours under-16s can work online and what happens to their
earnings. It also enshrines the right to be forgotten, meaning that platforms will be obliged to
take down content on the child's request14.

CANADA
A Strategy to Combat Online Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE)
Public Safety Canada leads the National Strategy for the Protection of Children from Sexual
Exploitation on the Internet (National Strategy), which was created in 2004. Efforts under the
National Strategy can be categorized under four broad pillars:

Prevention and Awareness

Increasing awareness of the risks of online CSE among children and youth, as well as
parents, teachers, health professionals, and others; reducing stigma around reporting;
and supporting initiatives that help prevent child sexual exploitation on the Internet.

Pursuit, Disruption and Prosecution

Identifying, apprehending, and prosecuting offenders.

Protection
Protecting victims from further abuse through victim identification, accelerated
detection and removal of publicly available images, and providing support services
for victims and survivors.
13
https://www.coe.int/en/web/cybercrime/protecting-children
14
https://www.loc.gov/law/foreign-news/article/france-parliament-adopts-law-to-protect-child-influencers-on-
social-media/
Partnerships, Research and Strategic Support
Strategic policy development, research to advance knowledge of online CSE, support
to National Strategy partners, and ongoing engagement with domestic and
international stakeholders.

The National Strategy's goals are to:

 Provide coordination and oversight of federal efforts to combat CSE online;

 Support law enforcement capacity to combat online CSE;
 Enable the reporting of online CSE to proper authorities;
 Support victims of online CSE by facilitating the removal of imagery/videos;
 Facilitate research on online CSE to increase understanding of the scale and scope of
the issue and to inform action;
 Increase public awareness and reduce stigma associated with reporting; and
 Work with digital industry to find new ways to combat CSE.

The Role of Each Strategy Partner

Public Safety Canada coordinates and oversees the implementation of the National Strategy
and leads the development of policy and research on online child sexual exploitation.

Public Safety Canada also provides contribution funding to various organizations, including
the Canadian Centre for Child Protection to operate Cybertip.ca, where Canadians can report
suspected cases of online child sexual exploitation.

The RCMP’s National Child Exploitation Crime Centre (NCECC) is the national law
enforcement arm of the National Strategy and serves as the central point of contact for
investigations related to the sexual exploitation of children online across the country and
internationally, when the victim or offender is Canadian.

The Department of Justice Canada reviews and develops legislation, and provides training,
advice and support to federal partners and others.

The Canadian Centre for Child Protection (C3P) is a key partner under the National Strategy.
C3P is a charitable organization dedicated to reducing child victimization by providing
national programs and services to the public. They are responsible for the operation
of Cybertip.ca, where Canadians can report suspected cases of online sexual exploitation of
children. With support from Public Safety Canada, C3P also manages Project Arachnid, an
automated web crawler that detects and processes tens of thousands of images per second
and sends take down notices to online service providers to remove child sexual abuse
material globally15.

International Efforts and Cooperation

Canada works closely with international partners to combat online child sexual exploitation.
This includes not only the exchange of information regarding new and emerging threats, but
also the sharing of best practices and lessons learned in combatting this crime.

Public Safety Canada participates in several international efforts to protect children from
online sexual exploitation, including the Five Country Ministerial and its “Countering online
child sexual exploitation and abuse: Digital industry roundtable” communiqué issued in
London, UK in 2019.

Canada is a member of The WePROTECT Global Alliance to End Child Sexual Exploitation
Online (WPGA). The WPGA is an alliance of countries, industry partners, and civil society,
who work together to enhance global efforts to combat online child sexual exploitation and
abuse. Their efforts focus on developing a comprehensive assessment of the global threat
environment, raising awareness, and increasing international cooperation.

Virtual Global Taskforce (VGT) is an international law enforcement alliance that works
together, including through operational collaboration and intelligence sharing, to address
child sexual exploitation online. The RCMP represents Canada at the VGT.

Voluntary Principles to Counter Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse

On March 5, 2020, Canada welcomed the release of the Voluntary Principles to Counter
Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse. These principles provide a common and consistent
framework to combat online sexual crimes against children, as well as drive collective action
between governments and industry partners.

15
https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/cntrng-crm/chld-sxl-xplttn-ntrnt/index-en.aspx
International Commitments

The Government of Canada endorses a number of international agreements to protect

children from sexual exploitation, including but not limited to:

 The Universal Declaration on Human Rights

 The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and two Optional
Protocols
 The Convention on Cybercrime (The Budapest Convention)

There are three main laws in Canada that attempt to protect children on the Internet16:

 The Criminal Code and child pornography

In Canada, the production or distribution of obscene materials is prohibited. It is also an
offence to knowingly sell or expose to public view, or to possess for such purposes, obscene
materials. A related provision in the Criminal Codemakes it an offence to make, publish,
distribute or possess child pornography, subject to certain limited exceptions. This means
that a person who visits a website which contains child pornography and views it on his or
her computer may be guilty of a criminal offence because a copy of the images may be left
on the computer’s hard drive.
The Criminal Code definition of child pornography includes:
 Any visual representation of explicit sexual activity with a person who is, or who
is depicted as being under the age of 18;

 Any written material, visual representation or audio recording that advocates or

counsels sexual activity with a person under the age of 18;

 Any audio recording that has as its dominant characteristic the description,
presentation or representation, for a sexual purpose, of sexual activity with a
person under the age of eighteen years that would be an offence under the Act.
View Section 163(1) of the Criminal Code for the full definition of child pornography.

 Mandatory reporting of online child pornography by ISPs

16
https://www.legalline.ca/legal-answers/obscenity-and-protecting-children-on-the-internet/
Federal legislation

On December 8, 2011, An Act respecting the mandatory reporting of Internet child

pornography by persons who provide an Internet service came into force.
The purpose of the legislation is to assist law enforcement agencies to locate the sources of
child pornography on the Internet and shut them down. The Act requires Internet Service
Providers (ISPs) to:
 Report tips they receive regarding any website that may possibly contain child
pornography to the Canadian Centre for Child Protection (through Cybertip.ca);
and

 Notify police if they believe that a child pornography offence has been
committed using their Internet service.

 Provincial legislation

The new federal Act works with provincial (and foreign) jurisdictions that currently have, or
are introducing similar reporting legislation. Manitoba was the first province in Canada to
introduce legislation, in its Child and Family Services Act, to include the definition of child
pornography. Since then, Ontario has amended its Child, Youth and Family and Services
Act, through the introduction of the Child Pornography Reporting Act. Nova Scotia‘s Child
Pornography Reporting Act, and Alberta’s Mandatory Reporting of Child Pornography
Act also include definitions of child pornography as defined in the Criminal Code.
Essentially, by using the same definition found in the Code, all provincial and federal child
pornography reporting legislation can be interpreted and applied similarly nationwide. This
will make it easier for law enforcement agencies across the country to work together.
In addition, these Acts make it mandatory for any individual to report instances of something
they believe to be child pornography to a designated regulated organization, agency or
person (such as Cybertip.ca).
What is Cybertip?

Cybertip.ca is an online tip line run by The Canadian Centre for Child Protection, a
charitable organization that provides programs and resources dedicated to personal safety of
children and reducing child victimization. When the federal Act became law, Cybertip.ca
became the designated service for reporting the sexual exploitation of children.
The types of exploitation that are reported can include:

 Child pornography (child abuse images and material),

 Online luring,

 Child sex tourism (travelling to sexually exploit children),

 Child prostitution,

 Child trafficking,

 Making sexual explicit material available to a child, and

 An agreement or arrangement with another person to commit a sexual offence

against a child.

Penalties

Under the new federal Act, penalties for not reporting include:
For individuals (ISPs that are sole proprietors), a fine:
– for a first offence, up-to $1,000,
– for a second offence, up-to $5,000, and
– for each subsequent offence, up-to $10,000, or to imprisonment for a term up-to six
months, or to both.

For all other cases (including partnerships, and corporations), a fine:

– for a first offence, up-to $10,000,
– for a second offence, up-to $50,000, and
– for each subsequent offence, up-to $100,000.

Ontario’s legislation, states that:

A person convicted of an offence (of not reporting) is liable to a fine of not more than
$50,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than two years, or to both.

Voluntary reporting of child pornography by the public

In addition to mandatory reporting requirements, any member of the public is also able to
voluntarily report instances of child exploitation. Depending on the situation, the individual
can make a report to Cybertip.ca or to their local law enforcement agency. When reporting to
Cybertip.ca, the person can choose to remain anonymous, or agree to be contacted for further
information.

Cybertip.ca sends all reports that they believe may be in contravention of the Criminal
Code to law enforcement for possible investigation. Furthermore, appropriate child welfare
agencies are informed of any information regarding a child potentially in need of protection.
You may also wish to contact the ISP that is hosting the site where the offensive material is
found to report your concerns.

After reviewing the laws in different countries some of the most common drawbacks which
are noticed are:-

 absence of a global consensus on the legal definition of criminal conduct;

 the inadequacy of legal powers for investigation and access to computer systems,
including the inapplicability of seizure powers to computerized data;
 the lack of uniformity between the different national procedural laws concerning the
investigation of cybercrimes;
 the lack of extradition and mutual legal assistance treaties, synchronized law
enforcement mechanisms that would permit international cooperation in cybercrime
investigations, and existing treaties that take into account, the dynamics and special
requirements of these investigations

RECOMMENDATIONS

The foremost recommendation proffered by this article, is the need to put in place a universal
law, that would have universal applicability with only one jurisdiction, so much that,
wherever a cybercrime is committed, the perpetrator can be brought to book, irrespective of
where he is situate

Based on research and analysis, the following recommendations, in a broad sense, will be
offered to help countries to improve legislative and regulatory responses to violence against
children committed by, with, and through the use of ICTs:
 Indian law does not provide explicit provisions that require Internet Service Providers
(ISPs) to report child pornography when they discover it on their own network.
 Indian law does not have provisions that explicitly criminalize child trafficking with
the intent of producing pornography.
 Although Indian law does not use the explicit term “online grooming”, acts
constituting the online grooming of a child shall be criminalized according to
Sections 11 and 12 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act
 Take necessary measures to establish extraterritorial jurisdiction over child
pornography offenses: 1) when the alleged offender is a national of the State; or 2)
when the victim is a national of the State.
 Require Internet Service Providers to: 1) report child pornography to law
enforcement agencies or other relevant authorities upon obtaining knowledge of it on
their own networks; and 2) take measures to prevent further transmission of the
discovered child pornography;
 Raise awareness around the issue of sexting and develop legislation to combat and
prevent sexting.

 Governments should also provide adequate support and assistance for child victims of
violations related to digital media and ICTs, including comprehensive services to
ensure the child’s full recovery and reintegration, and prevent re- victimization of
child victims.

 Safe and easily accessible child-sensitive counselling, reporting and complaint

mechanisms, such as helplines, should be established by law and should form part of
the national child protection system.

 Also, governments needs to understand and track offender's behaviour to increase the
detection rates of abusers and reduce the risk of convicted abusers to reoffend.
Establishing helplines offering free and anonymous phone or chat-based counselling
and support for people who experience feelings or thoughts of sexual interest in
children – potential offenders. Helping offenders change their behaviour minimize
the risk of reoffending.
Better education and awareness are essential to protect children from online crimes. Parents
should work to overcome the generational digital divide and take a vested interest in the
technologies they give their children, educating them on their safe use and on the potential
ramifications of careless online behaviour. Parents and educators need a good
understanding of how sex offenders work.