By Raju Kumar
Children’s lives in India are becoming increasingly digital. From education and entertainment to interacting with friends and expressing themselves, the internet has become an integral part of their everyday lives. But as children’s online presence grows, so do the risks they face. Cyberbullying, online grooming, blackmail, image-based abuse, privacy violations and online sexual exploitation are emerging as serious challenges to child safety.
According to CRY’s analysis of data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), reported cybercrimes against children increased nearly 20-fold between 2017 and 2024. During the same period, offences related to Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) increased 157-fold. However, compared with the peak recorded in 2023, cybercrime cases against children declined by around eight per cent in 2024.
India has around 113 million internet users below the age of 18, accounting for nearly 14 per cent of the country’s overall internet user population. According to the National Council of Applied Economic Research’s 2026 report, 65.3 per cent of children aged 13–16 have access to a mobile device, 37.8 per cent use the internet and 21.3 per cent use social media. In metropolitan cities, 73.1 per cent of children have access to mobile devices and 49.3 per cent use the internet, compared with 64.2 per cent and 33.3 per cent respectively in less-developed villages.
Amid the rise in online crimes, several countries have taken stringent steps to make online platforms more accountable for children’s digital safety. In Australia, since December 2025, major social media platforms have been legally required to take reasonable steps to prevent children under 16 from creating or maintaining accounts. Importantly, the responsibility rests with the platforms rather than children or their parents.
Under the UK’s Online Safety Act, online services are required to assess the risks children may face and take measures to protect them. Age-assurance measures have also been introduced to prevent children from accessing harmful content. Similarly, the European Union’s Digital Services Act places responsibility on online platforms to protect children’s privacy and safety, with measures including making children’s accounts private by default and limiting automated systems that recommend harmful content.
India, too, has legal provisions to protect children from online harms. Section 67B of the Information Technology Act makes several activities involving the electronic publication or transmission of sexually explicit material involving children punishable. The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 also place certain responsibilities on online platforms. The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 provides special protection for children’s personal data and restricts tracking or behavioral monitoring of children as well as targeted advertising directed at them. However, key provisions are yet to become fully operational, while a comprehensive framework for children’s digital safety is still evolving.
Laws and technological safeguards are essential, but online safety for children cannot be limited to age verification or blocking websites. Children also need to understand whom they are interacting with online, what they are sharing, which links they are accessing and where they can seek help when something goes wrong. Many children do not report harmful online experiences because they fear being blamed, having their phones taken away or simply not being believed. Families and schools, therefore, face the challenge not only of ensuring appropriate supervision but also of creating an environment of trust in which children can talk about troubling experiences without fear.
n this scenario, Child Rights and You (CRY) has launched a nationwide ‘TING TONG’ a nation-wide campaign to help build safer digital spaces for children. The campaign encourages a simple habit: pause and think before doing anything online. Puja Marwaha, CEO of CRY – Child Rights and You, said, “Children today are growing up in two worlds – the physical and the digital. Just as we work to make our homes, schools and neighborhoods safe, we must also ensure that the digital spaces children inhabit are safe, inclusive and respectful of their rights. Online safety is no longer merely a technology issue or a matter of digital hygiene; it is essentially a child protection issue. Through Ting Tong, we want to encourage one small yet crucial behavioral change that every one of us can adopt. A simple pause before we click, trust, share or post online can make an enormous difference.”
Protecting children, however, does not mean keeping them away from the digital world altogether, nor can the entire responsibility be placed on children and their parents. The internet is now an important medium for education, information, creativity and social participation. What is needed is a framework in which governments establish clear and effective rules, technology companies take responsibility for making their platforms safer for children, schools make digital safety part of children’s education, and families maintain an open dialogue with them. Balancing children’s freedom to use the internet with protection from its risks is emerging as one of the major child rights challenges of our time. (IPA Service)
