Centre to approach Interpol to get list of child porn websites

New Delhi: The Centre has decided to approach the Interpol to get the “worst-of” list of child pornography websites through the CBI, its nodal agency in the country. A senior officer in the CBI said, “The law enforcement agencies in the country are also in touch with cyber and legal experts to evolve an effective mechanism to deal with the challenge.” The Interpol maintains an updated list of “worst-of” websites containing most severe child sexual abuse material.

The government, though committed to curb such content, has been taking a one-step-forward-two-step-backward approach. Last year, it had asked Internet Service Providers to disable 857 websites. But, subsequently, in its order on Au-gust 4, 2015, the ISPs were told that they were free not to disable any of those sites if they had no child pornographic content. Experts feel that such moves cannot be solution at all and that the government was still struggling to counter the challenges, which have global ramifications too.

Sources said that the Cyber Law and e-Security Group of the department of electronics and information technology recently deliberated on the issue. “During the meeting, the CBI briefed them about Interpol’s ‘worst-of’ list and it was decided that besides Interpol, the government would contact all international bodies that keep a tab on child pornographic sites and ask them to share their list with the government.”

But the problem is that a ban, in itself, may not be a permanent solution. Such websites frequently change their addresses and also operate from proxy servers to circumvent any curb on their material. Internet Service Providers Association of India’s president Rajesh Chharia said that they were talking with some technology service providers for solutions to completely ban child pornographic websites. “Today, we ban child pornographic sites, but it is not fool proof. We are in the process of identifying technology partners to provide us with solutions,” he told this newspaper.

The Supreme Court, it may be recalled, has clearly spelt out the task ahead for the Central government. It has already observed that the nation could not afford to carry on experiments on children in the name of liberty or freedom of speech and expression. On February 27, it had asked the Centre to suggest ways to ban child pornography in all forms in the country. The court order had come after the Centre’s counsel submitted that it was difficult to ban pornographic websites as they did not fall under any country’s jurisdiction.

An Interpol operation, targeting paedophile networks sharing child sexual abuse material online, had resulted in the arrest of 60 offenders across 15 countries.

Sanjay Singh, head of “Chuppi Todo”, a campaign against child sexual abuse, said, “The government must do something concrete to check child sexual abuse and websites, indulging in such illegal activities. Child pornography is a heinous crime that has led to various other crimes, such as sex tourism and sexual abuse of the child. The Centre’s decision to approach Interpol for getting the ‘“worst-of” list of child pornography websites is a move that must be appreciated. Last month, a Geneva-based Global Interagency Working Group released the Terminology Guidelines for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, taking an important step in strengthening collaboration to address the sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children.”

An Interpol operation, targeting paedophile networks sharing child sexual abuse material via online forums, had resulted in the arrest of 60 offenders across 15 countries in the Americas and Europe and the rescue of four victims on December 15, 2015.