**Executive Summary**
This report details the comprehensive legal and regulatory framework implemented by the Indian government to safeguard children from online sexual abuse. It highlights key legislative provisions under the POCSO Act, IT Act, and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with a significant amendment to the IT Rules effective February 20, 2026. The document also provides an update on the status of Fast Track Special Courts and digital safety guidelines as of December 31, 2025.
**Key Points / Main Content**
**POCSO Act, 2012 Provisions**
* **Section 12:** Penalizes sexual harassment through electronic or online means, including sexually coloured remarks or repeated contact with sexual intent.
* **Section 13:** Criminalizes the use of children in any media form for sexual gratification.
* **Section 14:** Mandates a minimum of five years' imprisonment for first-time offences and seven years for subsequent convictions.
* **Section 15:** Establishes a graded punishment system for the possession, storage, or failure to report child pornographic material.
**Information Technology (IT) Act and Rules**
* **Content Removal Timeline:** Under the amended IT Rules, 2021 (effective 20th February 2026), intermediaries must remove explicit, morphed, or deepfake content within 2 hours of receiving a complaint, reduced from the previous 24-hour limit.
* **Publishing Penalties:** Sections 67, 67A, and 67B provide punishments for publishing or transmitting obscene or sexually explicit material.
* **Police Empowerment:** Section 78 and Section 80 authorize police to investigate, search public places, and arrest suspects.
**Newer Legislative Frameworks**
* **Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023:** Sections 294 and 295 criminalize the sale, distribution, and exhibition of obscene material, specifically prohibiting such actions involving children.
* **DPDP Act, 2023:** Protects children's personal data while allowing lawful access for government enforcement agencies.
**Institutional Support and Awareness**
* **NCRB:** Maintains accessible data on offences against children via its official website.
* **NCPCR Guidelines:** Provides awareness materials including "Being Safe Online" and "Cyber Safety for Schools."
* **Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs):** As of 31.12.2025, 774 FTSCs are functional, including 398 exclusive e-POCSO courts, which have disposed of 235,723 cases.
**Impact Analysis**
**Children**
**Impact**
Children benefit from enhanced legal protections against online harassment, deepfakes, and data misuse, supported by a specialized judicial system for faster justice.
**Action Required**
Utilize available awareness materials and the "Legal Toolkit" to identify and report online abuse.
**Intermediaries (Digital Platforms)**
**Impact**
Platforms are subject to more stringent compliance standards and significantly shorter deadlines for content moderation.
**Action Required**
Must implement systems to ensure the removal of reported sexually explicit or non-consensual imagery within the mandatory 2-hour window.
**Law Enforcement and Judiciary**
**Impact**
Police have expanded powers for search and arrest, while the judiciary is supported by the FTSC scheme to handle the high volume of child abuse cases.
**Action Required**
Police must utilize sections 78 and 80 for investigations; POCSO courts must continue the expeditious trial and disposal of pending cases.
Key Entities Referenced
Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012: The primary legislation providing a legal framework to safeguard children against sexual offences, including specific provisions for online sexual abuse and harassment.
Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021: Regulations that mandate intermediaries to remove child sexual abuse material and deepfakes within a strict two-hour timeline upon complaint.
Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) Scheme: A government initiative to establish dedicated courts, including exclusive POCSO courts, for the rapid trial and disposal of child abuse cases.
National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR): The statutory body responsible for issuing safety guidelines, awareness materials, and toolkits for protecting children in digital and educational environments.
Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023: A comprehensive penal code that strengthens the legal framework by specifically prohibiting the sale, distribution, or exhibition of obscene material to children.
Ministry of Women and Child Development
POCSO Act, 2012 provides for safeguarding
children against sexual offences, including online
sexual abuse
Information Technology Act, 2000 and IT Rules, 2021 together
create a stringent framework to deal with online sexual
offences against children
National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has
issued guidelines and awareness materials on online child
abuse
Posted On: 25 MAR 2026 3:40PM by PIB Delhi
Data of offences related to children is maintained by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). It can be
accessed at: https://www.ncrb.gov.in/crime-in-india.html
The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 provides for safeguarding children
against sexual offences including online sexual abuse:
i. Section 12 punishes sexual harassment of a child as defined in section 11, including through
electronic or online means, such as making sexually coloured remarks, showing pornographic
material, or repeatedly contacting a child with sexual intent.
ii. Section 13 criminalises the use of a child in any form of media, whether electronic, printed, or
broadcast, or the purpose of sexual gratification.
iii. Section 14 prescribes punishment of imprisonment for not less than five years and a fine for
the first offence. For subsequent convictions, the punishment increases to imprisonment for
not less than seven years and a fine.
iv. Section 15 lays out a graded punishment system for possessing, storing, or failing to report
pornographic material involving children.
Information Technology Act, 2000 and IT Rules, 2021 together create a stringent framework to deal with
online sexual offences against children. Sections 67, 67A, 67B of the Act provide punishment for
publishing or transmitting obscene or sexually explicit content. It also empowers police to investigate
offences (section 78), enter public place and search and arrest suspected person (section 80).
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 further strengthens the legal framework to address offences of online
child sexual abuse. Section 294 criminalises sale, distribution, public exhibition or circulation of obscene
material, including in electronic form, while Section 295 specifically prohibits sale, distribution or
exhibition of obscene material to children.National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has also issued guidelines and awareness
materials on online child abuse, including Being Safe Online, Guidelines on Cyber Safety for Schools as
part of Manual for Safety and Security of Children in Schools, and the Child Victims of Cyber Crime –
Legal Toolkit.
Under Rule 3(2)(b) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics
Code) Rules, 2021 (“IT Rules, 2021”), the intermediary shall, within 2 hours from the receipt of a
complaint made by an individual or any person on his behalf under this sub-rule, in relation to any content
which is prima facie in the nature of any material which exposes the private area of such individual, shows
such individual in full or partial nudity or shows or depicts such individual in any sexual act or conduct, or
is in the nature of impersonation in an electronic form, including artificially morphed images of such
individual, take all reasonable and practicable measures to remove or disable access to such content which
is hosted, stored, published or transmitted by it.
The Central Government has strengthened safeguards under the IT Rules, 2021 through amendments that
came into force on 20th February, 2026. These amendments address risks arising from synthetically
generated information (deepfakes), including child sexual exploitative and abuse material (CSEAM), non-
consensual intimate imagery (NCII), and other obscene or privacy-invasive content, including
misrepresentation of identity or events. Further, the timeline for removal of such content under Rule 3(2)
(b) has been reduced from 24 hours to 2 hours to enable faster and more effective action by intermediaries.
The Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023 provides for protection of personal data, including
that of children, while permitting processing in accordance with law and enabling lawful access for
authorised Government agencies for enforcement purposes.
Department of Justice is implementing the Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) Scheme since 2019 for
setting up Fast Track Special Courts including exclusive POCSO Courts for expeditious trial and disposal
of rape and child sexual abuse under the POCSO Act, 2012. As on 31.12.2025, there are 774 functional
FTSCs including 398 e-POCSO courts. Since the inception of this Scheme, 235723 child abuse cases have
been disposed of by the e-POCSO courts.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Women and Child Development Smt. Savitri
Thakur in Rajya Sabha in reply to a question.
****
SS
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