Author – Sara Shah, University of Mumbai Thane Sub-Campus
To The Point
Today’s technology can analyze, create, and manipulate data in ways we couldn’t have imagined ten years ago. While this brings many benefits, it also opens the door for serious harm to children. For example, some people use advanced tools to create fake images and videos that appear real but involve no actual children. These images cause deep emotional pain and social damage, even though no child was physically involved.
Additionally, some online chatbots are being misused to trick children by pretending to be friends their own age, gaining their trust for harmful purposes. Social media platforms, unknowingly, can spread dangerous content and expose kids to unsafe situations because their systems tend to boost sensational or predatory posts.
At the same time, offenders use encrypted communication and anonymity tools to hide from law enforcement, making it harder to catch them. Many websites and apps don’t yet have built-in safety features designed specifically to protect children, which makes the problem worse. All these challenges show that our current laws and ways of handling crimes involving children online are struggling to keep pace. Issues like understanding intent, holding platforms accountable, using digital evidence in court, and managing cases that involve multiple countries all need fresh and informed approaches to better protect kids.
Abstract
Technology is now a huge part of everyday life, totally reshaping how we chat with friends, grab the latest news, binge-watch shows, or even shop online; it’s everywhere, making things faster and more fun. But this boom comes with scary downsides, especially for kids who are growing up glued to screens. We’re seeing a surge in fake, nasty images and videos zeroed in on children, sneaky predators hiding behind chatbots and automated tricks to groom them, and algorithms that accidentally (or not) shove dangerous stuff right into young eyes. This piece dives deep into the legal side of these headaches, breaking down if our old-school laws can actually tackle these slick new threats to child safety. We’ll unpack key court battles that show the cracks in the system, spotlight where the rules just don’t cut it anymore, and push hard for smart fixes that blend cutting-edge tech with solid law; keeping kids safe without killing off the good innovations that make life better.
Use of Legal Jargon
When dealing with crimes involving technology and children, the law uses certain important ideas to make things clear and fair. For example, to prove someone’s guilt, the law looks at whether they intended to commit a crime and whether they actually took action. This helps explain how people might use technology to harm children, such as by grooming or creating fake harmful images.
The law also defines the responsibilities of online platforms, like websites or social media, to monitor and prevent harmful content. These rules clarify when platforms must act to keep users safe and when they can be protected from blame if they do their part responsibly. Similarly, the people who develop or run these technologies can be held responsible if they fail to build in proper safety measures and harm results. When cases reach court, specific rules determine how digital evidence is handled; how reliable it must be, how it is collected, and how it is proven to be genuine. Using these clear legal concepts ensures the justice system stays consistent and effective even as technology changes, while protecting children from new kinds of harm.
The Proof
The legal protections against child exploitation in India are built on strong laws, important reports, and growing regulations. For example, the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act of 2012 makes it illegal to create, share, or have any child pornographic material. While this law was written before fake digital images became common, its broad wording still allows authorities to take action against these new types of harmful content.
The Information Technology Act also plays a key role. It bans sexually explicit content involving children and sets clear responsibilities for online platforms, such as social media sites, to keep their spaces safe. These platforms must follow strict rules to qualify for legal protections, especially when it comes to moderating content through automated systems.
On the global stage, organizations like Europol, Thorn, and the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) have noticed a sharp rise in fake harmful images targeting children, providing clear evidence that this problem is growing. International agreements like the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime reinforce how governments must act to stop technology-based exploitation. Together, these laws, research reports, and global standards highlight the urgent need to tackle child safety issues in the digital age, ensuring the law keeps pace with new challenges.
Case Laws
Kamlesh Vaswani v. Union of India(2013)
In this public interest litigation filed by lawyer Kamlesh Vaswani before the Supreme Court of India, the petitioner challenged several provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (like Sections 66, 67, and 79) as inadequate and unconstitutional for failing to curb pornography, especially child pornography. He sought a complete ban on online pornographic content, making its viewing a non-bailable offense, and stronger obligations on internet service providers to block such sites proactively. The case sparked debates on intermediary liability, free speech under Article 19(1)(a), and privacy rights, leading to temporary blocking of over 800 websites in 2015 (later partially revoked), though it remains pending without a final judgment.
Justice KS Puttaswamy v. Union of India(2017)
In this landmark Supreme Court case, retired Karnataka High Court judge K.S. Puttaswamy challenged the Aadhaar scheme’s constitutionality, arguing it violated privacy rights. A nine-judge bench unanimously ruled that the right to privacy is a fundamental right inherent in Articles 14, 19, and 21 of the Indian Constitution, overruling earlier precedents like M.P. Sharma and Kharak Singh. The judgment established a three-fold test for any state intrusion; legality, legitimate aim, and proportionality; emphasizing privacy’s link to dignity, autonomy, and personal liberty in both physical and digital realms.
Conclusion
AI is flipping the script on child exploitation, making it easier for bad actors to churn out fake abuse images or deepfake nudes that look scarily real, all without laying a finger on an actual kid; yet the harm feels just as deep because it normalizes the nightmare and grooms vulnerable children online. Our current laws, like POCSO in India or U.S. federal statutes, nail real CSAM and predator chats, but they trip over this synthetic stuff since no “victim” was physically touched. We need a no-nonsense overhaul: tweak laws to slam AI-generated junk with the same 5-10 year sentences, force apps and sites to bake in age checks, abuse scanners, and fake-tracing tech right from the start, train cyber cops to hunt digital footprints across borders, make AI builders run risk checks and own up to misuse, and get schools teaching kids how to spot these traps. It’s not rocket science; governments, Big Tech, parents, and watchdogs just have to lock arms so AI becomes a fierce guardian for our little ones, not their worst enemy.
FAQs
1. Can AI tools groom children on their own?
AI can’t plot crimes on its own, but folks sure can weaponize it to mass-produce grooming tricks; blame sticks squarely on the human pulling the strings
2. Are deepfake images of minors punishable?
Yes, they trash privacy and dignity, and courts slam morphed images as obscene crimes under IPC and IT Act.
3. How can AI be used safely for child protection
Yes, when used right and legally, AI spots grooming tricks, tracks CSAM, IDs bad guys, and watches the dark web.
