While Kerala has a record high number of Internet connections, virtual communities circulating child sexual abuse material (CSAM) are also spreading in the State. Despite strong strategies and enforcement measures, there has been no major dip in cases as individuals and peer-to-peer networks now opt for more secure tech platforms and cyber tools.
The devices seized as part of the recent P-Hunt operation contained several pictures and videos of local children. Use of advanced tech by offenders is one major challenge faced by the authorities. “As per CyberTipline that tracks online child sexual exploitation, around 13,000 reports were generated in Kerala during the last one year. This volume points to the gravity of the issue and from that countering child sexual exploitation (CCSE) team had selected cases based on their severity for the operation. When we consider CSAM cases, Malappuram is the most affected district in Kerala,” Deputy Inspector General of Police and Cyberdome Nodal Officer P. Prakash told The Hindu.
Offline abuse
While most cases were filed for creating, circulating, uploading, browsing or possessing CSAM, there were also instances of the content triggering offline abuse. “We have come across cases of CSAM addicts targeting and abusing children in the neighbourhood,” he adds. In most cases, children are unaware that their pictures or videos are misused or being circulated. “So children or their parents hardly come forward with complaints and all cases are registered suo motu.” The offenders are not restricted to any particular group and they include migrant labourers, students, IT professionals and doctors.
Cryptocurrency for payments
As per Section 67B of the Information Technology (IT) Act, publishing, browsing or transmitting CSAM in electronic form is punishable with imprisonment up to 5 years and a fine of ₹10 lakh. According to officials, most of the offenders are well aware of the legal consequences of their crime. Apart from using social networking handles to connect, they also opt for torrenting to upload and download CSAM. Selling and buying of content is also frequent and the perpetrators use cryptocurrency for transactions via wallet addresses linked to pornographic sites. Of late they have switched to most advanced apps and safest networks to erase their footprints and ensure anonymity.
“It’s a challenge, but we have successfully infiltrated many groups through social media engineering. It’s a cat and mouse game and every time we also take it up a notch,” says Mr. Prakash.
