Cybercrime Against Children: Legal Awareness and Prevention

In the digital age, children are growing up surrounded by screens and online platforms. While the internet offers incredible opportunities for education, connection, and creativity, it also exposes young users to worrying threats like from cyberbullying to extortion, grooming, and child sexual exploitation and abuse material (CSEAM). Cybercrimes against children are among the most alarming challenges of our times, posing risks not just to privacy but to physical safety, emotional well-being, and human dignity. Understanding these risks, the legal framework, and prevention strategies is essential for parents, educators, and society as a whole.

The Growing Threat: Facts & Figures

Cybercrimes targeting children in India have risen dramatically over recent years. According to government data, reported cybercrime cases against minors grew nearly eight-fold from 232 in 2018 to 1,823 in 2022. Cases involving cyber pornography and sexually explicit content depicting children increased more than 26 times between 2018 and 2022.

National reporting systems have also recorded huge volumes of complaints regarding child pornography and sexual exploitation online. As of early 2024, the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) logged around 1.94 lakh cases of child pornography in India, while collaboration with international partners led to 69 lakh cyber tip-line reports being shared with Indian authorities.

Studies show that many of these incidents involve online grooming, unsolicited messages, sextortion, and distribution of abusive images, often on social media, chat apps, gaming platforms, and messaging services. Alarmingly, a large proportion of parents remain unaware of what their children view online, and many do not report suspected exploitation due to fear, stigma, or lack of information about legal channels.

Child Pornography and Other Online Exploitation Threats

Child pornography refers to material that depicts minors in sexually explicit situations. In India, such content, whether created, viewed, stored, or shared, is considered a serious crime with grave legal consequences. Cases have been unfolding across the country, such as the recent arrest in Odisha of a man found storing and viewing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on his mobile phone.

Apart from pornography, online predators also use deception and coercion through:

• Sextortion: Threatening to release private images unless a child complies with demands.
   
• Grooming: Building trust and manipulating victims into compromising situations.
   
• Blackmail and fraud: Exploiting personal information or photos to extort money or sensitive data.
  These crimes exploit the innocence and trust of minors, often leaving deep psychological scars and legal complexities.
   

Legal Framework in India

India has enacted robust legal provisions to protect children online:

1. Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000 — Section 67B
This law punishes anyone who publishes, transmits, creates, or collects material depicting children in sexually explicit acts through electronic means. Penalties can include imprisonment up to seven years and fines up to ₹10 lakh.

2. Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012
Sections of the POCSO Act specifically address using children for pornographic purposes, storing abusive material, and other exploitative behaviour. These provisions work alongside the IT Act to ensure broader child protection.

3. Recent Legal Developments
In 2024, India’s Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment clarifying that possession, storage, or viewing of child sexual exploitation material (CSEAM), even without sharing, ‘is a crime’. This decision further strengthened the legal framework by explicitly categorizing digital exploitation and abuse material involving children as punishable offences.

Other relevant provisions include sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) related to cyberstalking, intimidation, harassment, and misuse of technology platforms.

Reporting & Legal Procedures

Victims or witnesses of cybercrime against children should take the following steps:

1. Report Online via Official Portals
The Government of India’s National Cybercrime Reporting Portal allows anyone to file complaints, including anonymously, for offences involving children. This is the primary channel for prompt action.

2. Emergency and Helpline Numbers
India offers multiple helplines for immediate assistance, such as 112 (emergency) and 1098 (Childline). These numbers are essential for urgent reporting and rescue operations.

3. Local Police & Child Protection Units
Local law enforcement agencies, cyber crime cells, and child protection units are trained to handle juvenile sensitive cases. Collaboration between police, cyber labs, and forensic units is now actively used to trace digital evidence and apprehend offenders.

Legal procedures emphasize child-friendly reporting mechanisms, protection of the victim’s identity, and expeditious investigation to ensure dignity and safety throughout the process.

Prevention: What Parents, Schools, and Communities Can Do

Preventing cybercrime against children requires proactive measures at multiple levels:

Educational Awareness:
Parents and children should learn about online risks, how predators operate, and safe digital behaviour. Open conversations about what to do?, and what not to do? online are crucial.

Digital Literacy & Safety Tools:
Using parental controls, strong privacy settings, and monitoring software can reduce exposure to harmful content. Children should understand how to report suspicious contact and protect personal information.

Safe Internet Habits:
Encouraging critical thinking about requests for personal photos, sharing location data, or responding to strangers online can strengthen a child’s self-protection instincts.

School & Community Initiatives:
Schools and local organizations can run cyber safety workshops. For instance, stakeholder consultations in Karnataka aim to make the internet safer and raise awareness among children about online threats.

Societal Responsibility

Protecting children online is a shared responsibility. Governments must update laws and enforcement capabilities, tech companies must proactively remove abusive content, and civil society must raise awareness and break the stigma around reporting. Police units such as community cyber patrols are increasingly being deployed to protect high-risk groups and increase legal literacy among the public.

Parents and caregivers must remain vigilant, educate their children about digital risks, and foster a trusting environment where children feel comfortable reporting uncomfortable or threatening incidents.

Conclusion

Cybercrime against children, especially involving exploitation and abuse material, is a grave threat in the digital age. With cases rising dramatically across India and the world, legal awareness and prevention are more critical than ever. While laws have evolved to criminalize both the creation and possession of harmful material, the key to long-term protection lies in education, vigilance, and collective action. By empowering children with digital literacy, strengthening legal reporting channels, and fostering a supportive environment, society can work toward safeguarding the innocence, dignity, and safety of every child online.