Technology being manipulated, says Satyarthi

India’s Noble laureate Kailash Satyarthi has taken on a new challenge of having a United Nation Convention to force stop the use of technology in cross border child abuse, especially pornography.

“What I am working on and demand (that) a legally binding UN Convention to stop digital abuse of children and child trafficking,” Satyarthi said on 17 August 2019 at the IIMPACT 2019, a one-day conference by PAN IIM Alumni Singapore.

“Technology is being manipulated and misuse by the traffickers, big mafia gangs and criminals to use children in pornography and in other kinds of sexual abuses,” said Satyarthi after addressing the conference on his challenges.

Satyarthi has held one-to-one talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and discussed with leaders of Norway, Sweden and Qatar concern about the increasing use of technology in child abuse.

He has also received support from Pope Francis at the Vatican on tackling technology which is being manipulated for child abuse.

Satyarthi said he was also in talks with the Indian government to lead in proposing the UN Convention to stop the use of technology on child abuse, a new trend challenging the fight against crime on children.

“We need strong champions who can bring this issue, not in this General Assembly in September because it is too short, but next year. We have to build it with strong demand,” said Satyarthi. at the IIMPACT2019 conference held 17 Aug 2019 in organized by PAN IIM Alumni Singapore.

“We have been in contact with Interpol at their international office level.”

Blocking network is not going to be enough, he said, calling for a UN Convention that would hold these tech-savvy child abusers accountable and responsible.

Operators of big server in Russia, the Netherlands, Canada, the United States and France are involved in this industry that has spread globally and was estimated worth US$8 billion last year.

He is confident that a UN Convention will succeed and pointed out the International Labour Organiation law on Child labour which had a massive mobilization campaign across 103 countries in 1998.

The ILO Convention has resulted in reducing the number of child-labour to 152 million in 2016 from 260 million in 2000. fiinews.com