The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has to address the challenges faced by children in the digital era…

India’s rapid digital expansion exposes children to critical risks, including cyberbullying, online grooming, Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), gaming addiction, algorithmic manipulation, and privacy violations.

Critical Examination of Existing Framework The legislative framework—comprising Section 67B of the IT Act 2000, the POCSO Act 2012, and the Juvenile Justice Act 2015—penalises child abuse and protects privacy, while the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 mandates verifiable parental consent for children's data and bars tracking and targeted advertising directed at children; the DPDP Rules notified in November 2025 phase these duties in. Administratively, the NCPCR has issued online-safety advisories and operates the POCSO e-Box for complaints, in coordination with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and MeitY.

However, examination reveals significant gaps. Interventions remain predominantly reactive. Regulatory enforcement struggles against end-to-end encryption, cross-border jurisdictional hurdles, weak compliance by social media intermediaries, and inadequate digital literacy among children and parents, limiting the efficacy of reporting mechanisms.

Measures for NCPCR NCPCR must adopt a proactive, multi-pronged approach. First, using its inquiry and monitoring powers under Section 13 of the Commissions for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005, it should press MeitY to enforce the IT Rules 2021, requiring social media intermediaries to deploy robust, privacy-preserving age-verification protocols and swift content takedown systems. Second, the Commission must upgrade the POCSO e-Box with AI-driven triaging, linking them seamlessly with MHA’s National Cybercrime Reporting Portal.

Third, NCPCR should institute national digital literacy and cyber-hygiene curricula in schools, targeting parents and educators. Finally, a multi-stakeholder framework is essential, integrating civil society, tech platforms, and global partnerships with INTERPOL and the WePROTECT Global Alliance to disrupt transnational CSAM networks.

NCPCR must transition from post-facto grievance redressal to systemic, preventive digital governance, ensuring safe digital access without compromising child protection.