Four years later, Rani was shocked when she read an article on the increasing instances of paedophilia in the country and pages on social media that had photoshopped pictures of young kids. “I initially didn’t think any of my daughter’s pictures would be posted on such platforms, as I had implemented some security settings that only my ‘Friends’ on FB could see them. I recalled that I’d shared some with public settings, as I’d entered the pictures in an online contest,” she admits. 

To her horror, Kavitha (who is now in the third standard at a private school in the city) was one of the many little girls whose photos were shared on a page promoting paedophilia. “I was disgusted at the comments on the pictures. I should have been more vigilant. We filed a complaint with cyber security and the picture was taken down,” says the mother, who deleted all her social media accounts since.

“In countries like the USA and Europe, parents have understood what consent means after several such cases have led to kids being sexually exploited. There, children even file complaints on their parents/ guardians for sharing images of them without consent. But in India, that awareness is almost non-existent. Even worse, many don’t know how to use privacy properly,” says Vinod Kumar, a social media strategist in the city.