Curtain Raiser:- NHRC to organize a National Conference on Child Sexual Abuse Material at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi on 2nd & 3rd March, 2023; Union Law & Justice Minister, Mr. Kiren Rijiju to inaugurate

New Delhi, 28th February, 2023

The National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, India is organizing a two-day National Conference on Child Sexual Abuse Material, CSAM at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi on the 2nd & 3rd March, 2023. Mr. Kiren Rijiju, Union Minister of Law & Justice will inaugurate the conference as the Chief Guest in the presence of NHRC Chairperson, Mr. Justice Arun Mishra, Members, Dr. Dnyaneshwar Manohar Mulay & Mr. Rajiv Jain and Secretary General, Mr. D.K. Singh besides various stakeholders including senior officers of the concerned Ministries, legal experts, academicians, and scholars.

The aim of this Conference is to derive recommendations for policymakers, and content hosts including social media platforms and law enforcement agencies among others after deliberations to advocate safe cyberspace for children. The production, transmission, and consumption of CSAM trigger further demand for new and more egregious content, thereby perpetuating the sexual abuse of new children in addition to the continued molestation of child victims. This may have irreparable psychological damage on children, impacting their growth and development.

The Commission has been concerned with the ill effects of online child sexual abuse material and has been organizing dialogues from time to time in the recent past to come out with ways and means to check this menace. Earlier, on 21st July 2020 also, the Commission organized an online National Conference on the subject with valuable inputs from international organizations, government ministries, law enforcement agencies, national and state commissions, civil society groups, domain experts, and parents' associations.

The Commission also issued two 'Human Rights Advisory for the Protection of the Rights of Children in the context of Covid-19' dated 29th September 2020 and 2nd June 2021, respectively, wherein it made recommendations to the concerned authorities regarding cybercrime and online safety of children. These pertained to using the cybercrime reporting portal and PRAGYATA Guidelines for Digital Education. Lastly, as a precursor to the present conference, a 'Discussion on Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM)' was held on 4th November 2022, wherein various domain experts brainstormed on the nature, extent, and different manifestations of the issue of CSAM.

The discussions will revolve around five themes, including Understanding the Nature, Extent, and Emerging Issues; Legal Provisions Relating to CSAM; the Role of Technology and Intermediaries in the Prevention, Detection, and Investigation of CSAM; International Trends in Fighting CSAM and the Role of Enforcement Agencies & Cyber Forensics in Detection, Investigation & Monitoring of CSAM.

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