HYDERABAD
The fight against online child exploitation cannot be dependent on technology alone and must be anchored in strong policy, capable policing and sustained human engagement with victims, speakers said during sessions at the Shield 2026 conclave in Hyderabad on Thursday.
Addressing the conclave, Bhuwan Ribhu from the India Child Protection, urged policy-makers and law enforcement agencies to look beyond statistics and recognise the human cost behind every tipline. “When we talk about tiplines, we are not talking about numbers. We are talking about children being raped. One child raped is one child too many,” he said, adding that the boundary between offline and online crime had now largely disappeared.
Ribhu called for a prevention-first approach that embeds safety into systems by design. He said legal and policy frameworks must be agile enough to respond quickly when new forms of exploitation emerge, rather than lagging behind evolving criminal methods. Simplifying policies and procedures, he argued, was critical to ensure that victims were not failed by bureaucratic delays.
He made a strong case for tighter online safeguards for children, including an uncompromising ban on social media use by young children and mandatory age verification for platforms offering age-inappropriate content.
Practical challenges
During a separate panel discussion on the use of technology to deter online child exploitation, Sai Manohar, Additional Director General (Cyber), Madhya Pradesh, outlined the practical challenges faced by law enforcement agencies. He said the first and most critical hurdle was the lack of specialised technical resources. “Understanding the modus operandi is the first step, and that requires specialists,” he said, noting that police forces currently face a shortage of such expertise, both in numbers and in depth of experience.
Ravi Kant, National Convener of Just Rights for Children, drew attention to the long-term impact of online sexual abuse on young victims. “Once such abuse occur, it creates havoc in the lives of children,” he said, stressing that enforcement alone was not enough. According to him, a strong human connection with victims was essential, supported by structured mechanisms at the district and school levels, including trained counsellors who could help children navigate trauma.
Kant elaborated on the role of civil society organisations and pushed for the creation of support networks for child sexual abuse and online exploitation victims. He said the first response and the last-mile connection to victims were crucial in ensuring both recovery and justice.
Published – February 05, 2026 07:11 pm IST
