Cyber Grooming and Bullying of Children

Abstract

Cyberspace has emerged as a gigantic and dynamic platform for exchange of vital information. Ironically, the web world has transgressed itself beyond the traditional purposes of prompt action and communication. It is a home to degraded and despicable content that runs contrary to the norms of the civilized world. It appears to be immensely successful in terms of corrupting and deriding the minds of the young people who gain access to such content either accidentally or might often hold curiosity towards such inexplicit information. Children are also vulnerable to the manipulations of adults and teenagers who are driven by either financial interests or sexual pleasure. Often cyber groomers seek sexual stimulation whose primary purpose is to identify potential victims and resort to blackmail and transmit derogatory and inappropriate sexual materials. A bemused child may suffer in silence or might be bullied online. Cyber bullying emanates willful harassment with an objective of establishing lascivious relationship with the child. Child abuse issues have always been a matter of grave concern to the policymakers who undoubtedly confined legislative interventions to counter acts of offline child abuse. Even the provisions of several pro-child legislations in India and the recent Protection of Children against Sexual Offences Act, 2012 have not been compelling in terms of promoting a safe and secure online environment while offering quintessential creative opportunities to children for self-expression. A dichotomous approach is indispensable for harmonizing these competing interests with the penultimate goal of preserving the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the Indian constitution. Acts of cyber grooming and bullying have been recognized as criminal offenses under the Information Technology Act, 2000 following the amendment in the year 2008. Prior to the amendment, inclusion of these acts as ‘criminal acts’ within the Indian Penal Code was invariably doubted owing to vagueness in the different categories of offences. Despite these developments, the law enforcement agencies in India continue to struggle with the dire need for higher cybercrime convictions.