Cyber Crime Against Children/Women Helpline

Nearly 132 children were abused every single day in 2020.
To ensure timely justice for child victims of s*xual abuse, donate now: https://www.ketto.org/fundra.../kscf-justice-for-every-child
NDTV India NDTV NDTV Profit Taapsee Pannu Sushmita Sen Kalki Koechlin

Nearly 132 children were abused every single day in 2020.

To ensure timely justice for child victims of s*xual abuse, donate now: https://www.ketto.org/fundraiser/kscf-justice-for-every-child

NDTV India NDTV NDTV Profit Taapsee Pannu Sushmita Sen Kalki Koechlin

Website for Reporting Revenge P**n- StopNCII.org - the first global initiative of its kind to safely and securely help people who are concerned their intimate images may be shared online without their consent. Developed in partnership with UK Revenge P**n Helpline and supported by 50 NGOs globally, anyone can use this portal to proactively thwart the sharing of their intimage image on platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Shakti Vahini National Legal Research Desk on Women and Children

https://stopncii.org/

StopNCII Founded in 2015, the Revenge P**n Helpline (RPH) has supported thousands of victims of non-consensual intimate image abuse.

https://www.indiatoday.in/cities/delhi/story/delhi-police-file-over-100-fir-for-child-po*******hy-50-arrested-1883648-2021-12-03

Delhi: Police file over 100 FIRs for child po*******hy, 50 arrested More than 100 cases have been registered in different police stations based in Delhi and necessary legal action has been taken against the offenders.

In 2020, IWF confirmed 68,000 cases of self-generated imagery, a rise of 77% on 2019. Self-generated imagery accounts for nearly half (44%) the imagery we took action on last year. In 80% of these cases, the victims were 11- to 13-year-old girls.

Any child, no matter what their background, with unrestricted access to internet-connected devices, is at risk.

We want to build resilience to the threat of self-generated s*xual abuse of children, thereby reducing the number of incidences. We want parents/carers to have an increased awareness of this problem and feel motivated and equipped to protect their children.

https://youtu.be/fskbLna3DiY

Home Truths Home Truths is Internet Watch Foundation's latest campaign to help prevent the creation of self-generated child s*xual imagery online. In 2020, we confirmed ...

In 2020, Internet Watch Foundation confirmed 68,000 cases of self-generated imagery, a rise of 77% on 2019 and self-generated imagery accounts for nearly half (44%) the imagery we took action on last year. In 80% of these cases, the victims were 11- to 13-year-old girls.

Any child, no matter what their background, with unrestricted access to internet-connected devices, is at risk. We want girls to have an increased awareness of how to respond safely to requests online for self-generated child s*xual abuse material; and for parents/carers to have an increased awareness of self-generated child s*xual abuse online and feel motivated and equipped to protect their children.

Internet Watch Foundation continues to see an exponential increase in what is termed “self-generated” child s*xual abuse content, created using we**ams or smartphones and then shared online via a growing number of platforms. In some cases, children are groomed, deceived or extorted into producing and sharing a s*xual image or video of themselves. The images and videos predominantly involve girls aged 11 to 13 years old, in their bedrooms or another room in a home setting. With much of the world subject to periods of lockdown at home due to COVID-19, the volume of this kind of imagery has only grown. Frequently, these child s*xual abuse images and videos have been produced using live streaming services, then captured and distributed widely across other sites by offenders. Once captured, these images and videos can be recirculated for years after they were originally created.

Of the 153,369 webpages actioned during 2020, almost half (68,000 or 44%) were assessed as containing self-generated imagery. This is a 16% increase on the total number of reports actioned in 2019, when 132,676 webpages were actioned. Of these, 38,424 were assessed as containing self-generated imagery.

This represents a 77% increase from 2019 to 2020 in the proportion of actioned webpages displaying self-generated imagery. SHAKTI VAHINI Shakti Vahini

Human trafficking happens both offline and online.
Criminals are increasingly using technology to profit from vulnerable victims worldwide.
That's why technology is on the agenda for the Working Group on trafficking in persons meeting on 12-13 Oct.
🔗 bit.ly/WGonTIP

Working Group on Trafficking 2021 Working Group on Trafficking 2021

A total of nine people were arrested in Bangladesh and two others in India’s technology hub Bengaluru for allegedly being part of the trafficking gang, police added.

Bengaluru city police commissioner Kamal Pant told AFP on Tuesday that four other people were also arrested and accused of r**e or abetting the alleged s*xual assault shown in the video. SHAKTI VAHINI Shakti Vahini
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/9/bangladesh-trafficking-gang-lured-girls-using-tiktok-police

Bangladesh trafficking gang lured girls using TikTok: Police Eleven suspects arrested for luring girls and women into India’s s*x trade using the social media platform.

"The gang was running the racket using around 150 groups of es**rt services on messaging apps having thousands of customers across India," SHAKTI VAHINI

https://www.newsbytesapp.com/news/delhi/delhi-four-people-running-prostitution-racket-held/story

Four people running prostitution racket held, minor girl rescued | NewsBytes Four members of a gang running a prostitution racket using messaging apps have been arrested and a minor girl has been rescued from their possession in north Delhi, police said on Thursday | NewsBytes

What it’s Like Being Hacked and Blackmailed With Your Nudes

https://www.vice.com/en/article/z3v5b8/what-its-like-being-hacked-and-blackmailed-with-your-nudes

She Joined a Chat Room. Her Most Intimate Conversations Were Leaked to The Darknet “I could not confide in anyone. I had never felt more ashamed.”

As the process of amending the Information Technology Act, 2000 gathers pace, the Centre is considering an alternative system for faster adjudication of cases related to cyberspace, revolving around what experts term a civil takedown of content.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/social-media-moderation-government-plans-new-platform-to-flag-online-posts-101613680077473.html

Social media moderation: Government plans new platform to flag online posts At present, complainants can either challenge the content they find offensive in the courts or report it to intermediaries, if any are involved, to address their concerns.

A BBC investigation into increasingly popular live video chat website Omegle has found what appear to be prepubescent boys explicitly touching themselves in front of strangers. "We have found self-generated abuse material elsewhere on the internet which has been created by predators who have captured and distributed footage from Omegle," said Chris Hughes, hotline director at the foundation. "Some of the videos we've seen show individuals self-penetrating on we**am, and this type of activity is going on in a household setting often where we know parents are present. There are conversations that you can hear, even children being asked to come down for tea." SHAKTI VAHINI National Commission for Protection of Child Rights

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-56085499

Omegle: Children expose themselves on video chat site Omegle links up random people for virtual video and text chats, and claims to be moderated.

Traffickers have integrated technology into their business model at every stage of the process, from recruiting to exploiting victims. Many children are approached by traffickers on social media and they are an easy target in their search for acceptance, attention, or friendship. UNODC has identified two types of strategies: “hunting” involving a trafficker actively pursuing a victim, typically on social media; and “fishing”, when perpetrators post job advertisements and wait for potential victims to respond. The internet allows traffickers to live stream the exploitation of their victims, which enables the simultaneous abuse of one victim by many consumers around the globe.

The internet is also used by traffickers to connect with the targeted victims. Recruitment practices are widely report-ed upon, when it comes to both s*xual exploitation and forced labour Several methods have been identified, from direct contact to more devious and deceptive ploys. 31 out of the 79 court cases considered for this chapter report an element of online recruitment, affecting almost half of the total victims included in the database.Technology-based recruitment hinges on the anonymity of communications via the internet. It may prove diffi-cult to identify the author of online advertisements or the genuine identity of people writing from social media accounts. An example of internet manipulation is de-scribed in one court case, where the trafficker used mul-tiple online profiles to recruit the victims. The trafficker stayed in contact with each victim through two fake identities: one was used to write abusive text messages, while the other was used to express understanding and compassion. This technique was instrumental in build-ing trust with the victims.353The disclosure of personal information on social me-dia platforms may easily be misused by traffickers. One group of traffickers, for instance, used Facebook to browse through user profiles and, on basis of the information that people shared, selected potential victims who could be more susceptible to being courted and tricked into exploitation.

As the world continues to transform digitally, internet technologies are increasingly being used for the facil-itation of trafficking in persons. With the rise of new technologies, some traffickers have adapted their modus operandi for cyberspace by integrating technology and taking advantage of digital platforms to advertise, recruit and exploit victims. Everyday digital platforms are used by traffickers to ad-vertise deceptive job offers and to market exploitative ser-vices to potential paying customers. Victims are recruited through social media, with traffickers taking advantage of publicly available personal information and the an-onymity of online spaces to contact victims. Patterns of exploitation have been transformed by digital platforms, as we**ams and livestreams have created new forms of exploitation and reduced the need for transportation and transfer of victims. With the help of the internet, traffickers have learnt to adapt their strategies to effectively target specific victims, by actively ‘hunting’ those who they deem as vulnerable to falling victim to trafficking, or passively ‘fishing’ for potential victims by posting advertisements and waiting for potential victims to respond.

Under operation 'Masoom', Delhi Police has arrested five people for sharing online child po*******hy in its crackdown against the circulation of child po*******hy on social media platforms in the national capital. SHAKTI VAHINI


https://www.indiatoday.in/cities/delhi/story/5-arrested-in-delhi-for-circulating-child-po*******hy-on-social-media-1755982-2021-01-05

5 arrested in Delhi for circulating child po*******hy on social media Under operation 'Masoom', Delhi Police has arrested five people for sharing online child po*******hy in its crackdown against the circulation of child po*******hy on social media platforms in the national capital.

Campaigners say online s*xual harassment is difficult to regulate and is often only partially covered by legislation, which varies in each country, with researchers, lawyers and advocates worldwide working to plug legal gaps.

Human rights lawyer Kolisetty said India, Canada, England, Pakistan and Germany were among a small number of countries that have outlawed image-based s*xual abuse, where private pictures are shared without consent. But with technology advancing so rapidly, the laws are lagging, according to legal experts and advocates.
For example, many countries do not have laws for emerging forms of digital abuse like "deepfakes", where a woman's face can be superimposed onto a p**n video and shared on messenging apps like WhatsApp or Telegram to shame them SHAKTI VAHINI

https://news.trust.org/item/20210104110922-bqn8t/

Love, tech and online abuse of women in the time of coronavirus As COVID-19 pushes more people online, digital abuse against women is likely to intensify now that the internet is a lifeline for many

Five-year-old Nayagarh minor girl who was murdered and r**ed has turned the whole state into a wildfire. Recently Special Investigation Team (SIT) arrested an 18-year-old in the case, and Senior IPS officer Arun Bothra mentioned the details how the whole incident occurred. The prime accuse – Saroj Sethi was addicted to child po*******hy that provoked him and led him to the committee such gruesome crime.

https://interviewtimes.net/nayagarh-pari-murder-case-child-po*******hy-escalating-in-india/

Nayagarh Pari Murder Case: Child P**nography Escalating In India Five-year-old Nayagarh minor girl who was murdered and r**ed has turned the whole state into a wildfire. Recently Special Investigation Team (SIT) arrested an 18-year-old in the case, and Senior IPS officer Arun Bothra mentioned the details how the whole incident occurred. The prime accuse – Saroj...

How to deal with Child P**nography (CP)/ Child S*xual Abuse Material (CSAM) or s*xually explicit material in workplace?

All organisations should have clear and strong HR policies on how to deal with content on Child P**nography (CP)/ Child S*xual Abuse Material (CSAM) or s*xually explicit material. Organisations should have clear rules for use of electronic devices provided by the organisation. If any employee is found possessing obscene or indecent content, proper investigation and action should be taken against them

The organisation should report any incidence of sharing and storage of obscene content within the organisation to the police. The copy of the content should be saved as an evidence with restricted access

All other copies of the content should be deleted

They can also report through National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (www.cybercrime.gov.in).

SHAKTI VAHINI Article 23 Dialouges

Section 67B of IT Act, criminalizes browsing, downloading, creation, publication and distribution of child po*******hy SHAKTI VAHINI

Under Section 67 and 67A of Information Technology Act, 2000 makes publication & distribution of any material containing s*xually explicit act or conduct in electronic form a punishable offence SHAKTI VAHINI

In September, a small, five-member unit of CBI was alerted about some CSAM of Indian origin floating on the dark web. In a month, the team found embedded geo-location on the videos and photos that helped them track the CSAM to Chitrakoot. Some other transactions listed a phone number registered to Singh and an address in Banda district. In a few of the videos, Singh’s face was partially visible. In the second week of October, the team reached Chitrakoot. They used cell phone numbers and IP addresses to triangulate Singh’s location, and identified him through the partial grabs from videos. “We didn’t know we were on the cusp of busting such an enormous case; we thought it was limited to 2-3 children,” said a second CBI official. On November 16, Singh was arrested under the Indian Penal Code, Information Technology Act and the Protection of Children from S*xual Offences Act. Investigators found Rs 8.27 lakh in cash, 10 mobile phones, two laptops, six pen drives, six memory cards, one digital video recorder, a spy cam and s*x toys. “The real scale emerged only when we reached out to the children,” said a third CBI official.
SHAKTI VAHINI Article 23 Dialouges NATIONAL NETWORK OF LAWYERS FOR RIGHTS AND JUSTICE

https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/12-years-50-victims-the-making-of-a-molester/story-wEsrnvcJxX67MywtS0dW0L.html

12 years, 50 victims: The making of a molester Biggest child abuse scandal to hit UP: The CBI arrested Singh for allegedly s*xually abusing at least 50 children, a majority of them boys between five and 16, and filming and selling child s*xual abuse material (CSAM) on the dark web to racketeers across the globe.

The special unit of the CBI, which tracks online CSAM, conducted searches at the premises of the accused at Srinagar which led to the recovery of incriminating digital evidences including three laptops, five mobile phones, pen drives, hand written notes etc.

"The CBI regularly coordinates with international law enforcement agencies to detect and investigate s*xual abuse of minors, especially over the cyber space and also reaffirms its commitment towards promoting cooperation with US Law Enforcement Agencies in combating child s*xual abuse in cyber space," Gaur said. SHAKTI VAHINI Article 23 Dialouges



https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2020/dec/22/cbi-arrests-kashmir-resident-for-running-online-child-p**n-racket-with-help-of-us-based-wife-2239731.html

CBI arrests Kashmir resident for running online child p**n racket with help of US-based wife  His wife, 34-year old Tamara Stanley, a resident of Hoquiam, Grays Harbor County in Southwest Washington state was arrested on June 25.

The internet has always been envisioned as a platform to democratise public spaces by bringing more voices to the table and transform how interactions or businesses are conducted. The rapid adoption of internet-based technologies, however, has not just created opportunities but has also posed challenges requiring urgent and strategic resolution.

With vices such as Child S*xual Abuse Material (CSAM) spewing across online platforms, the calls for diluting safe harbour protections for internet intermediaries alongside mandating proactive monitoring and automated blocking of user-generated content has been gaining traction. Such actions, though well-intended, lead to deleterious implications on the fundamental right to free speech and privacy of the users. Accordingly, there is a need for evaluating their reasonableness and feasibility in a Constitutional democracy like India. After all, protecting the fundamental rights of the people is critical for preserving democracy and rule of law. Article 23 Dialouges SHAKTI VAHINI National Legal Research Desk on Women and Children


https://theprint.in/theprint-valuead-initiative/why-diluting-internet-safe-harbour-laws-threaten-both-child-safety-user-privacy/570905/

Why diluting internet safe harbour laws threatens both child safety & user privacy Calls for diluting safe harbour protections for internet intermediaries, though well-intended, lead to deleterious implications on the fundamental right to free speech and user privacy.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has decided to make a 41-year-old engineer accused of s*xually abusing children undergo a psychological test and a medical examination. He was accused of selling p**nographic material on the children he accused online.

https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/lucknow/banda-child-abuse-case-for-psychological-test-cbi-plans-to-take-accused-to-aiims-delhi-7106744/lite/

Banda child abuse case: For psychological test, CBI plans to take accused to AIIMS Delhi The CBI is also planning to constitute a board that will meet Singh’s alleged victims at their homes and study their psychology. The agency decided to set up the board as the case is about alleged s*xual offences against children.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has decided to make a 41-year-old engineer accused of s*xually abusing children undergo a psychological test and a medical examination. He was accused of selling p**nographic material on the children he accused online.

While these crimes were committed in the US, girls and women in poorer countries, who are far less likely to have access to lawyers, politicians, journalists or anyone else who might possibly be able to influence these companies, are even more vulnerable. Evidence points to s*xual exploitation on a vast scale. In the US, in 2018, there were 18.4m reports of child s*xual abuse imagery online – up from 3,000 20 years previously.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/dec/07/the-guardian-view-on-online-child-abuse-this-horror-must-be-faced

The Guardian view on online child abuse: this horror must be faced | Editorial Editorial: New revelations about P**nhub should prompt immediate action. For leaders to voice ‘concern’, while doing nothing, is shameful

The company did not confirm how many videos were removed from the site, but Motherboard, which first reported the news, notes that the number of videos visible on P**nhub's search function went from 13.5 million to 4.7 million on Monday morning.

Both Visa and Mastercard have pulled their charging services from P**nhub, and P**nhub has announced plans to verify all the content on its platform.

https://www.businessinsider.in/international/news/p**nhub-purges-millions-of-unverified-videos-amid-allegation-of-hosting-child-po*******hy/articleshow/79725143.cms

P**nhub purges millions of unverified videos amid allegation of hosting child po*******hy The popular po*******hy website P**nhub is deleting all unverified content on its platform, the company announced on Monday. "As part of our policy to ban

P**nhub recently was offering 26,000 videos in response to that search. That doesn’t count videos that show up under “related searches” that P**nhub suggests, including “young tiny teen,” “extra small petite teen,” “tiny Asian teen” or just “young girl.” Nor does it necessarily count videos on a P**nhub channel called “exploited teen Asia.”

The issue is not po*******hy but r**e. Let’s agree that promoting assaults on children or on anyone without consent is unconscionable. The problem with Bill Cosby or Harvey Weinstein or Jeffrey Epstein was not the s*x but the lack of consent — and so it is with P**nhub. I came across many videos on P**nhub that were recordings of assaults on unconscious women and girls. The rapists would open the eyelids of the victims and touch their eyeballs to show that they were nonresponsive. P**nhub profited this fall from a video of a naked woman being tortured by a gang of men in China. It is monetizing video compilations with titles like “Screaming Teen,” “Degraded Teen” and “Extreme Choking.” Look at a choking video and it may suggest also searching for “She Can’t Breathe.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/04/opinion/sunday/p**nhub-r**e-trafficking.html

Opinion | The Children of P**nhub Why does Canada allow this company to profit off videos of exploitation and assault?

What is the new software that is used by Interpol to act against child po*******hy online?

The Interpol has a software that uses various mechanisms like detecting nudity in images, recognising age of the person through facial structures, among other filters. It also has in-built algorithms to look for keywords around child po*******hy that would for example help law enforcement agencies track forums that indulge in these crimes. Based on these filters, the software ‘crawler’ scans the net looking for such images, videos and text. If they find any such media, it is added to the database after which officers identify cases that could fall under child po*******hy. SHAKTI VAHINI



https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/maharashtra-police-interpol-child-p**n-software-7096513/

Explained: How Maharashtra Police will use software to crack down on child p**n What is the new software that is used by Interpol to act against child po*******hy online? Which states are being provided these softwares in India?

What is ‘Operation Blackface’ carried out in Maharashtra?
‘Operation Blackface’ is part of the larger action taken against CSAM across the country. Acting on the tip off provided by NCRB, Maharashtra Cyber cops started forwarding complaints to the districts where FIR’s were registered against accused persons. In the current year alone, there have been above 100 FIR’s registered in cases linked to CSAM and nearly 50 persons placed under arrest. The officer said that with their team being trained by Interpol it better equips them to deal with CSAM instances and should overall bring down the number of such occurances that has Maharashtra as its source.

Operation Blackface: New software will be cops’ eyes

https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/mumbai/crime/operation-blackface-new-software-will-be-cops-eyes-will-track-child-p**no-suspects/articleshow/79599563.cms

Operation Blackface: New software will be cops’ eyes, will track child p**no suspects Recently, the Maharashtra Cyber also conducted online training for over 270 police personnel on the Protection of Children from S*xual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012,

Regulators argue that while abuse imagery on the internet is abhorrent, unchecked scanning for it by tech companies could violate privacy rights. A showdown looms.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/04/technology/european-union-child-s*xual-abuse.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article

E.U. Privacy Rule Would Rein In the Hunt for Online Child S*xual Abuse Regulators argue that while abuse imagery on the internet is abhorrent, unchecked scanning for it by tech companies could violate privacy rights. A showdown looms.

“P**nhub became my trafficker,” a woman named Cali told me. She says she was adopted in the United States from China and then trafficked by her adoptive family and forced to appear in p**nographic videos beginning when she was 9. Some videos of her being abused ended up on P**nhub and regularly reappear there, she said.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/04/opinion/sunday/p**nhub-r**e-trafficking.html

Opinion | The Children of P**nhub Why does Canada allow this company to profit off videos of exploitation and assault?

S*xtortion is a crime that involves adults coercing kids into sending explicit images online. This podcast discusses issues related to S*xtortion and Online S*xual Exploitation of Children SHAKTI VAHINI

https://www.fbi.gov/news/podcasts/inside-the-fbi-s*xtortion-111020

Inside the FBI: S*xtortion | Federal Bureau of Investigation On this episode of Inside the FBI, we're warning kids, teens, and caregivers about an increasingly common online threat called s*xtortion.

The U.S. Mission in India invites to an interactive session on S*x Trafficking in the Digital Age led by U.S. speaker Cara Jones, CEO and cofounder, Marinus Analytics

Date and Time: Thursday, December 3, 2020 ▪ 6 pm IST/ 7:30am ET

Description: Examine how the Internet and digital technologies are involved in modern s*x trafficking. Explore how U.S. institutions develop and implement victim-centered approaches to increase effective trafficking investigations and prosecutions. Discuss emerging safeguarding by public safety organizations during the Pandemic.

Speaker Bio: Cara Jones is CEO and cofounder of Marinus Analytics, a woman-owned company utilizing Artificial Intelligence to turn data online into actionable intelligence. She has managed the maturation and commercialization of Marinus Analytics’s Traffic Jam software, a purposely built solution used to help law enforcement find victims of human trafficking and detect organized criminal networks. She has a wealth of experience in engineering and entrepreneurship. She leads Marinus's expansion across law enforcement and the public sector.

Joining link –
https://interactive.amedit.lab.prod.getusinfo.com/fighting-human-trafficking-online/

VADODARA: Nilesh Gupta’s perversion and avarice knew no bounds as he not only pushed women for online s*x chats for money but also r**ed and molested them to satiate his own lust.
At least 10 women have come forward to record their statements against Gupta (44) of whom one has alleged that he blackmailed and r**ed her several times between April 2019 and January 2020 and also used to shoot videos of r**e. Late on Wednesday night, an offence of r**e, s*xual harassment and criminal intimidation was registered against Gupta at JP Road police station. Police have learnt that Gupta used to hire women for his architecture and designing firm but asked these female staffers to record videos for his acting school’s channel on YouTube. During the recording of one such video when a woman was changing her dress, Gupta secretly shot her video and took some photos on his mobile phone and started blackmailing her. He threatened to share these photos and video on the internet if she would not meet his demands. Gupta r**ed the woman several times over the course of seven months and even shot videos of r**e for his personal use, the victim told the police. Other women too alleged that Gupta molested them on several occasions by blackmailing them. While the women used to reveal their bodies during the video calls on European adult website ‘Chaturbate’, Gupta used to take their photos. “He would then blackmail them saying that if they will not listen to him, he will share the photos with their parents or family members. Since all the women worked for him by hiding details from their family members, he could easily exploit them,” said a police official.
The cop added that more women are expected to come forward with complaints against him. https://m.timesofindia.com/city/vadodara/kingpin-gupta-r**ed-his-female-staff/amp_articleshow/79434254.cms