Sextortion is one of the darkest sides of the digitalization or digital evolution. In this act, a person is threatened by any unknown person whom he/she met through any online social media platforms, to post his/her intimate details, mainly private/sexual images nude photos/videos, or such other materials on the internet or send them to people in their contact. This act is done mainly to extort money rather than seeking sexual favors or defaming any person. However, in many cases, it is also seen that the act of sextortion also takes place to defame any well-reputed person, celebrity, politician, or govt official at higher posts in the system. When it comes to law dealing with such kinds of crimes, there is no such law that specifically deals with the crime of Sextortion. And men suffer the most of this new form of crime.
In a single sentence, it is an act in which one takes advantage of a person’s fear of being defamed among his community or known people for any intimate act i.e. sexting, sharing intimate pics/videos of getting intimate with any social media friend, etc. Due to the fear of getting stigmatized, the victims can’t share such incidents with any person and seek help and thus end up either paying a large amount or living life in guilt and fear of getting defamed. In some cases, it is also seen that the victims choose to end their lives instead of seeking external help or fighting this menace as they can’t afford to fulfill the demand of the scammer or the person who is extorting money in the name of making their sensitive information public or viral through the world of Internet.
What are some common types of sextortion?
If we look at the types of sextortion, they are numerous and with increasing technological advancements, they are spreading more rapidly than we can think of. Here, we are mentioning some common types of sextortion.
Sextortion through Social Media Platforms
Social media platforms gain more popularity than any other means of networking platforms. And with time, we are witnessing more and more number of social media platforms that are attracting a larger number of users. These platforms not only allow users to interact with other users through chatting, liking, and sharing his/her posts/views but also allow exchanging pics, videos, and video chatting, as well.
Though most of Social Media platforms aim to connect a person with their family members, friends, colleagues, or other people in the known, they are widely being used as a tool to connect with unknown people. The scammers or people involved in unsocial activities, take advantage of this human behavior and eventually make them prey to sextortion by getting closer to the users and gaining their confidence. Due to this, a user may share their intimate pics, videos, or other private or sensitive material related to himself/herself with the other person. The other person with cruel intentions starts taking advantage of that sensitive or private information and starts blackmailing the person in the name of defaming him/her and
generally demands a heavy amount. Due to the fear of getting stigmatized, he or she tries to fulfill the demand or live a life in fear.
Sextortion through Hacked PC/Webcam
If you go easy on your PC or Smartphone and don’t often clean them to set free of malware, you are an easy prey to scammers. Due to the presence of malware, a user’s PC is more likely to get hacked. As a result, the sensitive information (user IDs, passwords, etc.), intimate photos, videos, etc. of the user are not safe anymore. Once, a person or group of people involved in such activities get access to sensitive information of an individual, they can blackmail you.
Though Phishing Schemes on E-Mail
In this type of sextortion, E-mail is the key weapon of the people involved in this type of criminal activity. In this process, an email is sent to a person saying that the sender has some sensitive information about the person and he/she will divulge it. In the name of leaking such information, the sender demands money from the person. With advancements in the digital era, more and more ways of sextortion are coming up and it will rise until some strict laws to protect human privacy are introduced. It’s more common than we think as only a few cases of sextortion come up. On the other hand, the actual number of such cases is even higher.
What are the challenges in curbing sextortion?
Several challenges are there that make it difficult to curb crimes like sextortion and other cyber crimes. Those challenges go as;
Broad number of Online Platforms
With the increasing popularity of social media platforms, there are still many other such platforms that are not so much highlighted but people are using them. And with every passing week, we can see more added apps on the app or software downloading sites. With an increasing number of such platforms, there are higher chances of getting trapped in sextortion or other acts.
Lack of Awareness
A large chunk of the population doesn’t even know that such acts are so common these days. And they think that they are one of those few people who are trapped in it. And therefore, they agree to give the money the blackmailer or scammer is asking for. People like teenagers or early adults, and old people have more such fear and thus, they don’t go for seeking help and are easy prey for people, and groups involved in such criminal activities. As a result, they find themselves in a helpless condition and opt to either give money or live with a fear of getting stigmatized. Those who can’t handle such a mental trauma end their life.
Not Coming Forward for Seeking Help
It is a nature of act in which people feel ashamed of sharing with any person. The people involved in the execution of such crimes take advantage of this psychology and thus never hesitate to make innocent people prey to sextortion.
Inadequacies of Laws for Sextortion or Other Internet Crimes In India, there is no dedicated law to deal with the crime of sextortion and other sexual crimes.
Though there are some laws to cover cyber-crimes, there is still a long way to go to cover serious cyber-crimes like sextortion. It is another reason that doesn’t motivate victims of sextortion to seek legal help.
Are present Indian laws sufficient to deal with Sextortion?
In India, there is no whole law that can solely cover the crime of sextortion. However, many Indian laws if combined can cover sextortion. But it can turn out to be a complicated and thus time-consuming task. Some of those laws are;
- The law governing the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act 2013 offers protection to women in their workplace. Since it provides protection only to females, it can’t completely be useful in fighting sextortion as it is not gender specific.
- Section 354 of IPC offers protection against sexual assault and criminal force and it also doesn’t cover sextortion completely.
- Section 376 of IPC is a law that punishes a person committed rape in different capacities.
- The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 offers protection from sexual abuse but only to minors. It may be a little bit helpful in dealing with cases of sextortion in which a victim is a minor.
- IT Act 2000 stipulates specific sexual offences dealing with cyber-crime. However, it wholly does not cover cybersexual crime or sextortion.
Though these laws cover sexual abuse but are either gender-specific or age-specific, they fall short of wholly dealing with sextortion. But introducing strict laws dedicated to punishing the crime of sextortion is the need of the hour and the Indian Central as well as state governments must make provisions to make this happen as soon as possible. With a couple of effective and strict law policies for Sextortion, the drastically increasing rate of this global crime can be taken down
