UNICEF on Thursday released a first-of-its-kind, comprehensive report analysing the use of the Internet and mobile phones among children in India. The report has presented a scathing commentary on the lack of preparedness of Indian agencies to tackle online abuse of children. There are currently 40 lakh Internet users in India. The report estimates that 13.4 lakh Indian children use mobile phones.
Social networking site Facebook and cross-platform application WhatsApp are increasingly posing a threat to the security of children online.
A 13-year-old Indian boy was targeted by one of his classmates who used a fake identity to create a Facebook account to send out offensive messages to other children in the school. The victim did not have a Facebook account. He was hauled by his parents and teachers for misbehaviour. In another incident, a girl was forced out of a school WhatsApp group where a morphed obscene picture of her was shared.
The report states the police and judiciary in India fail to appropriately respond to complaints of online harassment of children. "Such cases are often not registered or investigated due to limited understanding of child online offences system. Also, there is inadequate forensic capacity to investigate online offences and inadequate cooperation by India for investigating international offences," the report states.
It also states that the conviction rates for child online abuse are extremely low due to poor quality of evidence and the lack of police capacities to handle cyber evidence. The report goes on to say, "Police have often not been trained to preserve e-mails as evidence in child sexual abuse case. They also often do not attach a 65-B certificate due to which the evidence cannot be admitted in court. As a result, victims of online abuse are denied justice, while perpetrators enjoy impunity."
Weighing in on the effectiveness of the judiciary, the report states, "Even as the cyber appellate tribunal, to appeal in case of online harassment cases was formed in 2006, a judge to preside and decide on the cases has not been appointed since 2011," stated the report.
Picking loopholes in Indian law, the report states that emotional harassment, cyber-bullying, sexting, social exclusion, ideological indoctrination or exposure to inappropriate content do not constitute legal offences under Indian law.
In 2015, a survey carried out by a private IT company threw up shocking results. About 43 per cent of children active on social media claimed to have witnessed cruel behaviour, while 52 per cent of children indicated that they had themselves bullied people over social media. This included being mean to other children, the bullies saying they did not like them and taking a dig at someone by calling them 'fat' or 'ugly', making fun of someone's physical appearances or tagging them in mean pictures. Such emotional harassment under cyber-bullying is not considered a 'legal' offence under Indian law, making it impossible to bring perpetrators to book.
The report recommends to make priority interventions in formulating a national framework for child online safety in India. It also recommends the review and revision of cyber laws in India pertaining to child abuse and exploitation.
