The cyber wing of the Maharashtra Police recently acquired software from Interpol that would help them track down child pornography uploaded online.

What is the new software that is used by Interpol to act against child pornography online?

=> The Interpol has software that uses various mechanisms like detecting nudity in images, recognising age of the person through facial structures, among other filters.

=> It has in-built algorithms to look for keywords around child pornography that would for example help law enforcement agencies track forums that indulge in these crimes.

=> Based on these filters, the software ‘crawler’ scans the net looking for such images, videos and text. If they find any such media, it is added to the database after which officers identify cases that could fall under child pornography.

What is the TRACE team set up by Maharashtra Cyber to counter child pornography?

=> 12 officers from state went for training to the South Asian wing of Interpol. They form the core of Tactical Response against Cyber Child Exploitation (TRACE) Unit.

=> The TRACE unit was primarily set up to act against child pornography in Maharashtra that is part of a larger campaign against Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) across the country since 2019.

Why has there been a boost in action against CSAM in India since 2019?

=> India’s fight against Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) received a boost in 2019 when National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), a US-based non-profit that works to prevent child exploitation, started sharing tip-offs about child pornography in India with Indian agencies.

=> These tip offs were received by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) which then passed it on to the states where the child pornography related incident had taken place.

What is ‘Operation Blackface’ carried out in Maharashtra?

‘Operation Blackface’ is part of the larger action taken against CSAM across the country. Acting on the tip off provided by NCRB, Maharashtra Cyber cops forward complaints to the districts where FIR’s were registered against accused persons.