In the last few months, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has been quite busy. After taking action on multiple fake adoption pages and posts on social media, the child rights body had started looking into social media posts related to child sexual abuse victims. In an RTI response received by MediaNama, the NCPCR has revealed that it has sent 7 content takedown requests in the last 4 months since the IT rules came into effect and 10 such requests in total since May. Childrens' rights, data, and activity online is a sensitive area of content moderation. India's new Information Technology (IT) Rules, 2021 requires social media intermediaries to 'proactively' take down content related to child sexual abuse on their platforms. Even under the draft Personal Data Protection Bill, data fiduciaries (entities responsible for storing and processing personal data) cannot engage in profiling, tracking, behavioural monitoring, or targeted advertising directed at children. Details of the takedown requests In its RTI reply, the NCPCR revealed that it has sent: 5 takedown requests to Twitter between July 5 and August 4. According to the NCPCR, these requests were regarding A video alleging violation of child rights in Jammu and Kashmir A non-governmental organisation, working in child rights, allegedly illegally raising money online A complaint regarding a Twitter handle by a girl 'Another compliant regarding a minor girl' Posts revealing the identity of a child sexual abuse victim, by posting pictures of their family, violating sections of the Juvenile Justice…
