NEW DELHI: To curb the menace of the online child sexual abuse material (CSAM), the union women and child development (WCD) ministry on Friday announced interim measures wherein the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) shall be required to adopt and implement mechanisms to block and remove such content regularly.
Last year, a stakeholder consultation had taken place on the issue wherein it was decided that the WCD ministry will establish a national alliance against online child sexual abuse and exploitation focusing primarily on the online content.
Subsequently, an inter-ministerial committee (IMC) was constituted that includes the union ministries of law, home, electronics and information technology, external affairs and the department of telecom. Based on consultations of the IMC, the immediate interim measures to curb the menace of online child sexual abuse material were announced today.
“Under this order, the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) shall be required to adopt and implement the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) Resources by 31st July 2017. This foundation maintains a dynamic global list of websites and URLs which contain CSAM. Implementation of IWF Resources will result in the relevant content being blocked/removed on an ongoing basis,” said the ministry.
It further said that this is an interim measure till the IMC puts in place a centralized mechanism to monitor online CSAM. The Order also reiterates that the ISPs will continue to observe due diligence requirements described under the IT Act (Information Technology Act 2000) for removing and disabling any content which is in violation of the extant rules and regulations.