We are taking strong measures to crackdown CSAM: Rajeev Chandrashekhar

Union Minister of State Rajeev Chandrashekhar on Thursday said that the government is taking strong measures to tackle Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) on the internet. He termed CSAM as the "unacceptable" part of the internet.

"We have recently issued notices to prominent platforms such as YouTube, Telegram, and Twitter, urging them to proactively clean their platforms of such explicit content, which makes children vulnerable to exploitation. While the internet is a powerful force for good, it is also subject to misuse by bad actors," said the minister while speaking at an event in Noida.

The Minister of State called out global tech giants for 'distorting' fair competition and free consumer choice in the internet world and said that it is an area of concern for the government. "We believe that the digital nagriks of India mustn't be compelled by any big platform to go in a particular direction," he added.

The minister also talked about artificial intelligence (AI) during his conversation around emerging technologies with students. He said that the upcoming Digital India Act will lay down guardrails for AI regulation in India. He stated, "Our approach towards regulating AI or any other emerging technology is not for banning, not for regulating use-cases, but for regulating and creating guardrails that protect the citizens from any adverse use of the platform. We will regulate AI from the prism of user harm and conversely, and reciprocally, safety and trust of the user."

He emphasised that the Digital India Act has frameworks which set out clear principles for all emerging technologies, including AI.