New Delhi, November 29: The Narendra Modi government had taken down 377 child pornography websites, while First Information Reports (FIRs) were filed against the people promoting such content. Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani on Thursday informed the Rajya Sabha while responding to AIADMK MP Vijila Sathyanath. The AIADMK MP during a zero hour, raised the issue of increasing child abuse cases due to easy access to pornography on mobile phones and the Internet. India Needs 1,023 Special Courts to Try Cases of Rape and Child Rape: Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

Sathyananth cited recent incidents of sexual assault of minor girls to seek a complete ban on the websites and social media carrying such content to "save our children. The Women and Child Development Minister urged MPs to report such content so that it should be taken down immediately. Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu also said that it was really painful and it required immediate action. Mandsaur Child Rape Case: Second Accused Arrested For Sexually Molesting 8-Year-Old Girl.

Earlier in August this year, the  Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill, POCSO, 2019 was passed to curb child pornography. According to the POCSO (Amendment) Act, those who use a child for pornographic purposes should be fined and also be imprisoned up to five years. The Act defines child pornography as any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a child. The Act also penalises storage of pornographic material for commercial purposes with a punishment of up to three years, or a fine, or both.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 29, 2019 03:43 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).