Digital Abuse Of Children In India: Emerging Challenges And The Efficacy Of The POCSO Act, 2012
Robin Bharti, Research Scholar, Department of Law, Kurukshetra University Kurukshetra, Haryana, India
Dr. Pooja, Assistant Professor, Department of Law, Kurukshetra University Kurukshetra, Haryana, India.
ABSTRACT
The high speed of the growth of digital technologies has changed the way children communicate, learn, socialise and get access to information. Nevertheless, greater exposure to the digital world has also led to new prospects of abusing, exploiting and harassing children. Digital abuse can be done in a number of ways such as on-line grooming, cyber sexual harassment, sextortion, distribution of child sexual abuse content, image- based abuse, impersonation and technology-based sexual exploitation. Anonymity of offenders, the high rate of distribution of digital contents, secure communication, cross-border aspect of online crimes as well as the emergence of new technologies like artificial intelligence and deepfakes have also increased the challenge of offering protection to children in the online world. The POCSO Act has played a significant role in providing a statutory framework to protect the child against sexual offences in India via the Protection of Children against Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO act) that covers various forms of sexual abuse that are related to technology. Nevertheless, it is the dynamism of digital abuse that begs the question of the validity and online applicability of the current law.
This paper discusses what digital abuse of children involves and what are the dimensions of this issue in India and critically discusses how effective the POCSO Act, 2012 has so far been in tackling it. It provides an analysis of the provisions of the POCSO Act as well as other applicable laws, including the Information Technology Act, 2000, Information Technology Rules, 2021, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. This paper also analyzes the judicial practice, investigative issues, the evidentiary challenges, institutional procedures and the roles of digital platforms in deterring and addressing technology-based abuse. Specific consideration is given to the new challenges of artificial intelligence, deepfakes and the growing amount of harmful online content. The paper will take a socio-legal and doctrinal approach to find out the gaps between legal safeguarding and application in reality. It postulates that even though the POCSO Act has become an important protective tool, its usefulness in the online space relies upon technical capacity, organized enforcement, child- focused practices, internet literacy, and internet accountability and ongoing legal evolution. The paper ends by recommending actions to improve the child protection system in India to deal with the quickly developing types of digital abuse.
Keywords: Digital Abuse, Children, POCSO Act, Online Grooming, Child Sexual Abuse Material, Cybercrime, Deepfakes, Child Protection
