Operation ‘Megha Chakra’

Context

• Operation ‘Megha Chakra’ is one of the major CBI-led global operations conducted recently against child pornography.

About

• Operation ‘Megha Chakra’ is a Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI’s) rapid response to online child sexual exploitation with international linkages and organised cyber-enabled financial crimes. 
• Nature: Internationally coordinated operation for crackdowns on online circulation/downloading/transmission of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM).
• Inputs: The CBI acted upon inputs from the Singapore based Crime Against Children (CAC) unit of Interpol, which had received the inputs from New Zealand Police.
• CBI Action: The CBI raided 59 locations in 21 states and UTs across India and recovered electronic devices including mobile phones, laptops etc. of suspects.

• The CBI is India’s first law enforcement agency to set up a cyber crime unit.
• CBI is also the nodal agency for the Interpol.
• CBI will host the 90th Interpol General Assembly in October 2022
• It had conducted ‘Operation Carbon’ in 2021 for the similar purpose.

Menace of Child Pornography

• Definition: 
  • The POCSO Act, 2019 defines Child Pornography as ‘any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a child which includes a photograph, video, digital or computer-generated image indistinguishable from an actual child.
• Reasons:
  • Curiosity, fantasizing.by children and adolescents. 
  • Monetary benefit from the sale of child pornographic material.
  • Pedophilic, hebephilic, ephebophilia tendencies in case of older people or older adolescent with psychiatric disorder of sexual attraction with children of different ages.
  • Sadistic tendencies with pleasure in watching children in pain in the act of molestation.
  • The advancement of digital technology and internet expansion boosted the child pornography market leading to more viewership with easier accessibility, anonymity and affordability of the videos.

• Impacts of Child Pornography:
  • Psychological: Child porn causes depression, anger, anxiety, mental distress amongst children.  It also impacts their biological clock, work and social relationship.
  • Sexuality: If seen regularly, it gives a sense of sexual gratification and sexual obsession.  Evidence suggests that exposure to pornography can increase the likelihood of an earlier first-time sexual experience.
  • Unsafe sexual health practices such as not using condoms and unsafe anal and vaginal sex.
  • Self-objectification and body surveillance which might reinforce double standards of active male sexuality and passive female receptacle.
  • Sexual addiction: According to some experts, pornography is like an addiction. It produces a similar effect on the brain as produced by consumption of drugs or alcohol on a regular basis.
  • Reproductive Health: 
    • Increasing sexual dysfunction among young men
    • Sexual disorders development in young children.
  • Behavioural: Adolescent pornography use reinforces stronger beliefs in gender stereotypes in males leading to objectification of women.
    • For e.g. Rise in sexual and domestic violence against women during COVID-19 pamdemic.
  • Vulnerability of young children to sexual abuse, cyberbullying and sexual exploitation.
  • COVID-19: As per the online data monitoring website India Child Protection Fund (ICPF), there has been an increase in demand for child pornography by 95% during COVID-19 lockdown as compared to traffic before it.
• Challenges to Ban Child Pornography:
  • Lack of sex education in the School curriculum.
  • Difficult for agencies to detect the activities of child pornography and monitor them effectively.
  • No Healthy dialogues between children, Parents and teachers  on these subjects.
  • Lack of technical knowledge and expertise in Internet pornography. 

Government Policies & Interventions

• Laws: There is no law in india to ban watching pornography in personal space.
• The Supreme Court’s order directed  the Department of Telecommunication to ban several websites containing child pornographic material.
• The Information Technology (IT) Amendment Act, 2008: Section 67B punishes child pornography, child grooming or exploitation.
• Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) 2019: Penalises 

• Storage of pornographic material for commercial purposes with imprisonment of 5 years, or a fine, or both. 
• Failure to destroy, or delete, or report pornographic material involving a child
• Transmitting, displaying, distributing such material except for the purpose of reporting it.

Way Forward & Suggestions

• Child pornography is a societal menace harming innocent children, affecting attitudes and behaviour of adolescents and having potential of psychological disorders in adults. 
• Parents, teachers and caregivers should promote the culture of healthy parenting, foster sex education and importance of consent in relationships.
• Adolescents should be encouraged to pursue digital media literacy.
• Children need to be made more aware about bodily autonomy and respect for the opposite gender’s personal space and privacy.
• Establish links with other agencies and jurisdictions.
• To know the peculiarities of law and the POCSO court working in resonance with the IT Act.

Source: TH