Hyd: Justice Vikram Nath calls for coordinated approach to ensure safe digital childhood
Hyderabad, Oct 4 (TNT): Supreme Court Judge and NALSA Executive Chairman Justice Vikram Nath on Sunday called for a coordinated approach involving families, schools, communities, technology platforms and justice institutions to protect children from emerging threats in the digital environment.
Addressing a session on “The Safe Digital Childhood: Prevention, Awareness, and Community-Based Legal Protection” on the concluding day of the two-day NALSA South Zone Regional Conference here, Justice Nath said criminal law alone could not ensure a safe digital childhood as the internet had become an integral part of children’s lives.
He said children were increasingly exposed to threats such as grooming, cyberstalking, impersonation, circulation of intimate images, trafficking and child sexual abuse material.
Artificial intelligence was also making fabricated images and impersonation increasingly realistic, he added.
Justice Nath said technology itself was not the enemy of childhood and called for its responsible design, regulation and use while ensuring that child protection measures did not result in digital exclusion.
Referring to the legal framework, he highlighted the POCSO Act, Information Technology Act, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Juvenile Justice Act and Digital Personal Data Protection Act, besides relevant international child-rights provisions.
He urged parents and caregivers to maintain open communication with children and said the first response when a child disclosed an online threat should be reassurance rather than reprimand.
Justice Nath called on schools to educate children about consent, privacy and reporting unsafe behaviour and urged legal services institutions and paralegal volunteers to connect child victims with legal aid, Child Welfare Committees, police and other support systems.
He stressed the need for strict confidentiality of children’s identities and images and called for specialised training for lawyers handling child-related cases, particularly in electronic evidence and victim compensation.
He also called for wider publicity in regional languages for reporting and support mechanisms, including the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, Childline 1098, NCPCR POCSO e-Box, Cyber Fraud Helpline 1930 and NALSA Helpline 15100.
Justice Nath said institutional responsibility should continue beyond an FIR or court judgment, as victims could require long-term counselling, medical care, educational support and compensation.
He outlined a five-pronged approach of prevention, protection, investigation, early legal aid and rehabilitation to ensure a safe digital childhood. Pasted markdown Pasted markdown
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