Why did the SC clarify POCSO?

• The Supreme Court has clarified that viewing, downloading, and storing online sexual material involving children are all offenses under the Protection of Sexual Offences Against Children (POCSO) Act.
• Criminal liability is not limited to creating, uploading, and transmitting the material.
• An alliance of non-government organisations appealed against a Madras High Court order quashing criminal charges against a young man for viewing and storing video clips featuring exploited children.
• The High Court ruled that mere possession or storage of pornographic material was not an offence under POCSO.
• The Supreme Court clarified the scope of the various offences under Section 15 of POCSO, which had been amended in 2019 to penalise various acts relating to child sexual abuse material.
• The court termed the possession or storage of child sexual abuse material as an “inchoate” offence, a criminal act done in preparation for a further offence.
• The court suggested the use of the term ‘child sexual exploitative and abuse material’ (CSEAM) instead of ‘child pornography’.