Topics Covered: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.
Panel suggests steps to curb child porn
What to study?
For Prelims: Key recommendations, about NCPCR.
For Mains: Significance of these recommendations and concerns.
Context: A parliamentary panel has recommended a code of conduct for Internet service providers (ISPs) and strengthening the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights to curb child pornography.
Background:
The report was prepared by an ad hoc committee set up by the Rajya Sabha and led by Congress MP Jairam Ramesh.
Key recommendations:
- Put in place a multi-pronged strategy involving technological, institutional, social and educational as well as State-level measures.
- There is a need for code of conduct or a set of guidelines for ensuring child safety online.
- There shall be a greater onus on ISPs to identify and remove child sexual abuse material (CSAM) as well as report such content and those trying to access them to the authorities under the national cybercrime portal.
- There is also need for strengthening the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) so that it can serve as the nodal body for curbing child pornography. It is suggested that the capabilities required in the NCPCR should include technology, cyberpolicing and prosecution.
Issues with these recommendations:
- Some of the recommendations are expected to lead to concerns over privacy and misuse.
- It is believed that asking ISPs to report content in addition to blocking and filtering may not be practical.
- The suggestion to break encryption could also just lead to traffic moving to different platforms.
Need of hour:
There is a need to develop a victim-centric strategy instead of just focusing on prosecution.
Sources: the Hindu.
