Lekhak Anurag

For decades, law enforcement agencies relied on one basic assumption while investigating child sexual abuse material: that an image or video could be evidence of something that had happened to a child somewhere. However, with generative artificial intelligence, things have become extremely complicated. An abusive-looking image can now emerge from very different situations. It may be existing material involving a known victim that has been altered using AI.

On 24th September 2022, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided around 59 locations across 21 States and Union Territories (UTs) in connection with two cases involving the downloading, circulation and transmission of child exploitation and sexual abuse material, or CSEAM. Notably, the investigation did not begin at an Indian police station.

In July 2021, the office of the Senior Superintendent of Police in Rupnagar, Punjab, received 19 CyberTipline reports from the Ministry of Home Affairs for necessary action. One of them carried the number 72122374. The matter had not reached police through a complaint from the child. Instead, it arrived as a digital lead that had travelled through an international and national reporting system. The Rupnagar Cyber Cell examined the material associated with the Tipline report.