The Deadline for Blocking Child Sexual Abuse Imagery Passed. And Nothing Was Done.
We were on the threshold of adopting a globally recognized blocking list of child sexual abuse imagery. But the deadline has passed in the midst of misinformed confusion, with no sign of affirmative action.
On 18th April 2017, a Government Order was issued which instructed relevant Indian ISPs to adopt Aarambh India’s hotline partner Internet Watch Foundation’s blocking list. This is dynamic list of URLs linked with child sexual abuse material. Adopting the list effectively safeguards millions of Indian citizens with internet connections from accessing such content on the public internet, protects their well-being as well as the rights & dignity of the child victims featured in the content.
This order had materialized out of a long standing debate in the Courts and open society on how to keep the Indian internet user safe from online child sexual abuse imagery. After several attempts and false starts, including the infamous porn ban episode of August 2015, this order was a positive and concrete step that put India on par, at least in the aspect of dealing with CSAM, with global standards for child safety and protection on the internet. The order stated 31st July 2017 as the deadline for the adoption of the list.
Since then, there have been factual inaccuracies around the adoption of the list that have floating around and some of these have since been mis-reported in the press:
A solution is right at our doorstep. It would now be a real shame if confusions and lack of clarity would derail what is a clearly pioneering move for online safety in India.
Clarifying the Confusions:
The article mentions that a subscription to the IWF list costs between £70,000 – £90,000. This is an incorrect figure with no basis in fact or reality.
The IWF fee banding ranges from £1,000 – £78,000. IWF is a non-profit and the fee model is decided by IWF members themselves who represent the global internet industry (including Apple, Amazon, Google, Facebook, BT, Virgin, Vodafone, Sky, Telefonica, Microsoft etc.)
The article also seems to imply that every ISP in India would be forced to pay the IWF subscription fee. This is a misrepresentation.
To protect all Indian citizens, and India’s internet in the most cost-effective, and efficient way, IWF has offered the URL List to India’s five ‘gateway’ companies, some of whom are also ISPs. However, this also means that all other ISPs in India will be protected with the URL List without having to pay subscription. The five ISPs who have been approached to implement the solution are Tata Communications, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Globalcom, Sify Technologies and BSNL.
IWF is offering a membership fee of £50,000 for the first year. Thereafter, each of the five identified companies in India will be charged the same as any size-and-profit-comparable company. Once in membership, the companies have access to multiple services, tools, expertise and benefits, as well as the globally-trusted URL List.
Employing the list is only the first step in committing and taking action to combat the issue of online child sexual abuse material. There is an entire eco-system that involves taking down the images at source, prosecuting the offenders, rescuing and rehabilitating the victims etc that needs to be put in place. Tarrying about implementing a globally recognized blocking list is a delay that does not seem very justifiable.
To make the internet a safer place, this needs to get done. And then, there is a lot more that we can do.
Read the Internet Watch Foundation Blog on the same here.
