Govt eyes officers in each city to act on ‘revenge porn’

Days after the Madras High Court directed the Union government to evolve a mechanism for women to have their private images and videos uploaded online without consent removed from the internet, the Centre informed the court on Tuesday that it is considering appointing a chief information security officer (CISO) in every Indian city to tackle cybercrime threats and online content violations targeting women.

- Ayesha Arvind

The submission came in response to justice N Anand Venkatesh's call for a concrete system to address the growing problem of non-consensual intimate media -- or revenge porn -being disclosed. The court is hearing a petition filed by a woman advocate whose private videos were allegedly recorded and circulated by a former partner, leaving her traumatised after the content appeared on pornographic websites, messaging applications, and social media websites.

Senior counsel A Kumaraguru, representing the Union ministry of home affairs, informed the court that Union home secretary Govind Mohan had flagged the urgent need for designated CISOs in every city earlier this month. These officers ‘would supervise cyber complaint response units, coordinate helplines for victims, ensure immediate takedown of objectionable content, conduct regular security audits, and proactively counter emerging digital threats.