NEW DELHI: In a bid to crack down on online child sexual abuse material (CSAM), rape imagery and other offensive pornographic material, the government has decided to coordinate with various agencies and support efforts for an international alliance to ensure full protection to women and children from cyber crimes which know no boundaries.After a meeting of stakeholders, women and child development minister Maneka Gandhi said it had been decided to build an international alliance "within three months" in view of rising complaints of cyber crime.
The minister shared that as per information shared by social media platform Facebook at the consultation, they have removed some 21 lakh offensive images from their platform.
WhatsApp turns out to be most common source of sharing such material. She has also asked micro-blogging site Twitter to prepare a list of words that are being used in tweets and falls in the category of offensive.
She also emphasised on an online central reporting mechanism and a mechanism for real time removal/blocking of offensive material. With the home ministry preparing to make functional its centralised portal and helpline to receive complaints of child pornography, rape/gangrape, she has also decided to get down to defining "pornography" with special focus on "child pornography".
"It is important to sign MoUs with agencies and alliances working to combat child sexual abuse material and pornography internationally," she said. The minister pointed out that the MHA has agreed to explore how these tie-ups can be done and CBI will be the pivotal agency in framing MoUs with the international agencies. Training workshops for analysts who will be scrutinitising complaints and the offensive content are also planned. The multi-stakeholder group will meet again in 45 days.