Question : Vulgarity on Social Media

Will the Minister of Electronics and Information Technology be pleased to state:

(a) whether any steps have been taken by the Government to check nudity obscenity and vulgarity spreading on social media as a prank and if so, the details thereof;
(b) the details of the action taken by the Government in this regard and the number of persons against whom the action has been taken; and
(c) whether the Government has any plan to take action against such people involved in aforesaid activities in future and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

(a): The Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000 together with the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860 provide legal framework for dealing with online obscene and vulgar material. Also, the IT Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 provide for a framework for prosecution of those involved in publishing or transmitting child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

Further, the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 notified on 25th February mandates that social media platforms and all other intermediaries shall inform their users not to host, display, upload, modify, publish, transmit, store, update or share any information that is obscene, pornographic, paedophilic, invasive of another’s privacy including bodily privacy, or otherwise unlawful in any manner. Further, if any unlawful information is hosted, stored or published, the intermediary shall remove or disable access to that information, as early as possible, on receipt of a court order or on being notified by an Appropriate Government or its agency. The Rules also provide for the victims of such pornographic material to directly raise their grievance/complaint to the intermediary platforms thereby creating accountability of the intermediary.

(b) and (c): “Police” and “Public Order” are State subjects. Complaints reported on such matter are dealt by the respective Law Enforcement Authorities of States/Union Territories. As per the data reported and maintained by National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs (NCRB, MHA), a total of 88, 232 and 305 cases of cyber crime against children were registered in the year 2017, 2018 and 2019, respectively. Further, 11018, 10686 and 14759 cases of Cyber Crimes against Women were registered in the year 2017, 2018 and 2019, respectively.

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