‘US body to help eradicate child porn’

NEW DELHI: The Centre has told the Supreme Court it is taking help from a US-based private body, which works with countries around the world for the eradication of child pornography, to deal with the menace in India.

In a status report to be filed in the top court, the Centre said has that US-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) acts as a resource centre for information about missing and exploited children and provides “free” details through a secure channel to the central law enforcing agency of the US and 99 other nations.

The government told a bench headed by justice Dipak Misra that as per information conveyed by the NCMEC, the agency is trying to establish the “secure link” with the law enforcement agency in India.

The report said the ministry of electronics and information technology has sent a letter to the ministry of home affairs, a copy of which has also been sent to the ministry of women and child development, requesting it to follow up for establishing communication with the NCMEC.

Recently, in a communication to the home ministry, the MEIT said the NCMEC has informed that “a large number of reports are available with them wherein illegal imagery related to child pornography/child abuse have been uploaded from Indian territories”. “It is also understood that the NCMEC has been trying to establish a secure channel with the CBI for sharing details in this regard since 2013. However, there is no concrete progress in the matter so far. Action on such reports can create a definitive deterrent mechanism for potential uploaders of such illegal imagery from India,” the communication said.

Additional solicitor general Pinky Anand had on July 14 told the bench that the Centre has blocked 3,522 websites carrying child pornographic content last month and asked the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to consider installing jammers in schools to block access to such sites. The government had said that installation of jammers in school buses was “not possible” and they were coming out with steps to deal with the menace in its entirety.

The apex court had asked the government to file a status report within two days on the steps taken by it to stop child pornography.

The court is dealing with a petition which has sought a direction to the Centre to take appropriate steps to curb child pornography across the country.

NCMEC HAS TOLD GOVT ABOUT SEVERAL CASES WHEREIN ‘ILLEGAL IMAGERY RELATED TO CHILD PORN HAVE BEEN UPLOADED FROM INDIA’