• Teaching children about responsible internet use a necessity
• Adult and parental digital literacy needs improvement 

By Sumudu Chamara Anything can be a double-edged sword – how we use something determines what we get out of it, and thus whether it can be a success or a failure. The Internet is such a double-edged sword. The incident of the 15-year-old girl who was sold online, and the spate of arrests that followed, indicated the worrying state of Sri Lanka’s approach to curbing online sexual abuse and exploitation cases. Despite laws and policies in place to prevent such crimes, they keep taking place, with one incident leading to several more. In fact, within several weeks after the mentioned incident, the Police reported several child sexual abuse cases. Where are we as a country when it comes to saving children from online sexual predators, is the question these incidents raised, and today’s Spotlight asks that question from those who are aware of Sri Lanka’s situation. Child sexual abuse in SL According to National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) Chairman Prof. Muditha Vidanapathirana, there are numerous factors that contribute to the vulnerability of children online, which need to be addressed, as laws mostly exist to deal with such events after they have occurred. “More than that,” he explained, “there are some policies that can counter online sexual activity. For example, it is essential that the education sector is equipped with the facilities and knowledge to create awareness about cyber sexual abuse. Computing and information technology are included as subjects in the school curricula, but there is very little stress on cyber crime.” The NCPA has thus been taking steps to address this aspect of the issue as well, noted Prof. Vidanapathirana. “The NCPA, along with Save the Children International, started the End Online Violence Against Children programme to make children aware about online violations. Also, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) gives children a lot of rights, but they are not very aware of these. To make children aware of their right to be protected, the NCPA is conducting several awareness programmes, especially targeted at teens above the age of 12. However, we do not ignore children below the age of 12, among whom we spread awareness with the help of our psychosocial officers.” He also noted that there has been an increase in the number of sexual-related cyber crimes reported. The NCPA received 8,856 complaints in total (not only cyber crimes) in 2019, 8,165 complaints in 2020, and 4,740 cases thus far for 2021; however, the number of cyber crime related complaints it received has been growing, from 43 cases in 2019, to 152 cases in 2020, and 73 cases thus far for 2021 – leading it to expect that the figure will double by the year’s end. Meanwhile, Police Media Spokesman Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police (SDIG) Ajith Rohana and cyber security expert Asela Waidyalankara also concurred that there has been an increase in the number of online child sexual abuse and exploitation cases, which, according to Waidyalankara, is a result of the Covid-19 pandemic situation, which has compelled children to adapt to online working and learning environments.  To deal with this, the defence mechanisms have undergone adaptation of their own. As Prof. Vidanapathirana further explained, the NCPA’s Cyber Crime Investigation Unit was initially set up to only investigate recorded complaints, but over the past two years, the NCPA switched to a more proactive approach to conduct surveillance online through this unit, locating such issues themselves.  “Out of the complaints we received in 2020, 52% were from our own surveillance,” he stated. “This is how we noted the increase in online sexual violence cases. Although the total number of reported cases shows a decreasing trend, the number of online sexual abuse cases is on the rise, because we converted our Cyber Crime Investigation Unit into a Cyber Crime Surveillance Unit in March 2020.” The NCPA was aided in the development of this surveillance unit by Save the Children International, which sponsored three experts to aid the unit from March 2020 to March 2021. The unit used several new techniques and developed an action plan to improve its effectiveness, and moved from closing the accounts of violators online, to physically locating them and facilitating their arrest. In instances where abusers operate from overseas, the NCPA now works with the International Police and Internet regulators to locate them, cancel their accounts, and pursue further legal action. This led to an effective co-ordination mechanism between the NCPA and these global and local agencies, where data on such offenses are now shared among the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission Sri Lanka (TRCSL), the Police Cyber Crime Unit, and the Army Cyber Crime Unit, for better collaboration on tracking down offenders. In October 2020, the NCPA also launched its 1929 mobile application for complaint submissions to facilitate the reporting of such cases. Additionally, before the partnership with the Save the Children expired in March this year, the NCPA sought the assistance of the Management Services Department to approve a larger cadre of officers to handle the online surveillance effort and keep working proactively to solve issues related to online sexual violence. It is also currently in dialogue with the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) to acquire the facility to detect and remove all documents distributed by violators. The Police are also involved in investigations into the extent of such activity online. SDIG Rohana explained: “According to a survey conducted by the Police Computer Crimes Unit and a special Criminal Investigations Department (CID) unit, it has been observed that most of the time, perpetrators use social media accounts under fake names, masquerading as their authentic accounts.” He noted that these individuals befriend and exchange information with children, with the aim of exploiting them later, and that parents, adults, and guardians of the children have a responsibility to monitor children’s online activities to prevent children from becoming victims. Laws and policies When queried as to whether Sri Lanka has adequate policies and laws to prevent child sexual abuse and exploitation incidents, SIDG Rohana explained: “Sri Lanka has ratified the UNCRC introduced in 1989. After three years, in 1992, we enacted the first laws incorporating the contents of the UNCRC, which relates to the Penal Code (Amendment) Act, No. 22 of 1995. Thereafter, subsequent amendments have been made, with remarkable progress in 2006 with regard to human trafficking and child exploitation.”  However, Waidyalankara noted that there is a lacuna in the existing laws, and that Sri Lanka could learn a lot from other countries in the region in this regard. “Sri Lanka’s legal framework seems to be found wanting, and we still have to rely on Penal Code provisions and many other residual legal provisions. However, at the moment, there are no precise legal provisions that tackle these types of online harassments or incidents of online sexual violence that children face. If we look at other countries, countries such as Japan, Singapore, and even South Africa and Kenya, they have enacted specific legislation targeting cyber bullying, stalking, or any such activity that occurs in cyberspace.  “We should either criminalise or declare these acts punishable offences, and also by extension, ask schools and other such institutions where children often interact with on a daily basis to have such policies to monitor the children. For example, Japan has asked schools to have special anti-cyberbullying and anti-stalking policies in schools. We can learn from such examples from the region; when it comes to the Sri Lankan law, there is a certain lacuna in both the law and the process of law enforcement,” he added. SDIG Rohana also concurred that the enactment of the laws are in need of update, stating: “We have certain laws to deal with such situations; however, our infrastructure should be developed. When the UNCRC was ratified and laws were made in that connection, we did not have issues relating to cyber crimes. However, at the moment, there is an increase in cyber crimes and online exploitation, and therefore, we need more and more laws to deal with such issues.” In the recent past, especially when it comes to cases of women seeking the assistance of law enforcement agencies with regard to online exploitation and harassment incidents, allegations were levelled that Police officers were unaware of and insensitive to such issues, hindering people from seeking legal assistance. The NCPA also confirmed this to The Morning early this month, stressing that grassroots-level Police officers have frequently proven reluctant to record complaints related to cyber crimes. In this regard, SDIG Rohana admitted that grassroots-level Police officers are not fully equipped to conduct these types of investigations, as the offence takes place in cyberspace. To address this, the Police have established two specific units; namely, the Police Computer Crimes Unit and a special CID unit.  “If it is an online exploitation case, we refer those cases to these two units. Apart from them, the CID has branches in Kandy and Matara, and we are planning to establish more and more branches at the Provincial level, which we think will help address the matter. These two Police units are conducting investigations, as other Police stations do not have the same capacity to conduct similar investigations. However, they accept complaints and refer the complaints to these special units,” according to SDIG Rohana. Save the Children Sri Lanka Senior Technical Advisor for Child Protection Buddhini Withana emphasised that Sri Lanka does not maintain a victim-friendly legal procedure and lacks a proper victim support system. She also noted that there is no standard screening for mental health and psychosocial needs that children might face, and added that since online child sexual abuse and exploitation incidents may go beyond Sri Lanka’s jurisdiction, the country needs better collaboration and co-ordination with international agencies. Technology and cyberspace The increasing use of the Internet and the level of digital literacy among children are seen by some as the main factors leading children to be vulnerable to issues such as online sexual abuse and exploitation. However, Waidyalankara opined that it is not necessarily a lack of digital literacy, but the lack of responsible and careful use of the Internet that makes children vulnerable. He explained: “If we take urban settings, children are in fact a little ahead of their parents when it comes to digital literacy; their digital literacy is quite high. They are more aware of such things and know how to use digital devices well. During the Covid-19 pandemic, we saw many activities shifting to online platforms, and rural children were also forced to shift to online classes and learning. Due to that situation, we saw a gap in digital literacy.  “However, it is not just about digital literacy; we need the ability to use those devices with more awareness. What is lacking sometimes is learning these abilities, and those are not taught in schools or any other institution – especially how to conduct ourselves online. This lacuna is what cyber criminals and online predators are exploiting. This is why it is young children who are mostly exploited online. This is the gap that exists, not the ability to use such devices, per se.” Speaking of the magnitude of online sexual abuse and the exploitation of children, Buddhini Withana said that it is a huge industry on a global scale, and that some parts of the Internet, especially the deep web or dark web, have made an environment for online child sexual exploitation and abuse to thrive as a business that attracts millions of clients across the world.  “According to global statistics, one in three Internet users are children, and children’s exposure to the Internet, therefore, is extremely high. At any given time, there is an estimated number of 750,000 individuals looking to connect with children for sexual purposes,” she added. According to the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), a non-profit organisation established in 1984 by the US Congress, nearly 70 million images and videos related to online sexual abuse have been reported to them. Withana explained: “Any child that has access to the online world can be subjected to online sexual exploitation and abuse. But there could be factors that make children more or less vulnerable to such crimes depending on their context. As we know, many children started using the Internet and online platforms for the first time last year at the onset of the pandemic to continue their education.  “So basically, the Internet and the online world is part and parcel of children’s lives; it should be so, because the Internet is an integral part of the present and the future. There is no real justification for keeping children away from the online world. Thus, the answer is not to prevent children from accessing the Internet. The issue is that children learn to use the Internet a lot faster than how we teach them to stay safe online,” she stressed. Taking responsibility  According to Waidyalankara, not only children, but adults, including parents and guardians of children, have a massive responsibility to prevent online sexual abuse and the exploitation of children. “They must think about monitoring children’s online behaviour. For example, if the number of hours they use a device a day or interact with people online increases, parents must pay attention. We need to urge parents to be a little more familiar with social media platforms their children use, including mobile communication apps. If possible, they must install parental control software on those devices. Parents used to advise children not to talk with strangers; it is the same when it comes to the online environment. It is very important that parents have conversations with their children about their use of cyberspace.” Children, by nature, are very trusting, and generally tend to share identifiable information about themselves, especially online. Because of such behaviours, cyber criminals and online sexual predators target children, and there are two steps this process entails; namely “grooming” and “mirroring”. In this context, grooming refers to an action by a perpetrator to prepare a child for a meeting, especially via the Internet, especially with the intention of committing a sexual offence while mirroring refers to expressing similarities between the parties involved, in a bid to build connection.  Speaking of these concepts, Withana added: “Through our research, we have observed that children who are trafficked do not usually realise that they are victims of trafficking, because of the strong bond the perpetrator creates with the victim. We call it trauma bonding, and it creates a huge dependency; the child depends heavily on the perpetrator. In return, the perpetrator provides what the victim seeks, on the perpetrator’s own terms. Based on this phenomenon of trauma bonding, the child victim is groomed for exploitation.” Expressing similar concerns, Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Readiness Team (SLCERT) Information Security Engineer Nelushie Bandara emphasised the importance of parents being open with their children to discuss children’s online behaviour, especially through building strong connections and through effective communication. She noted that in a context where it is difficult to completely control or restrict children’s Internet use, the best approach is to teach them how to use it responsibly and carefully, which involves protecting their identities and personal information when using the Internet.  “Children having access to supportive and sensitive adults, in the event they became victims of online sexual violence and are in need of assistance, is also of immense importance,” she said, adding that there is no need to instil fear in children, as the Internet, if used properly, could be very beneficial, and that using technology while avoiding its pitfalls is what is important. Withana also expressed similar opinions: “The Internet can be a minefield if you do not know what you are doing. So what happens is that children are exposed to a platform that was primarily used by teachers to teach, and it gives children the opportunity to really explore an entirely different world. Even though it is basically a good development, we need to give children the skills to try to do it right, and to do it safely, to find the best things about the Internet and to use it to their best advantage.  “When we think about teaching children how to stay safe, we have to acknowledge that digital literacy among parents and adults is generally a lot lower than the digital literacy of children; they learn to use technology a lot faster. So it requires an education that goes beyond teaching children how to safely navigate the Internet. It is about how to ethically use digital infrastructure, and how to ensure that children's online behaviour is ethical.” The authorities seem to have paid attention to online sexual abuse and exploitation incidents, especially after the aforementioned incidents. However, preventive measures are more effective than corrective measures, and Sri Lanka has a long way to go when it comes to preventing such crimes and assisting the victims. As those who spoke with The Morning emphasised, in this day and age, it is almost impossible to live without the Internet, and harbouring an undue fear of the Internet will not solve anything; we can only achieve this through the careful and responsible use of the Internet.