Internet promoting female foeticide?

The low and declining sex ratio in the country is no longer a subject matter of debate or doubt. The child (0-6 years) sex ratio has declined from 962 in 1981 to 945 in 1991, 927 in 2001 and to 918 in 2011. If we had the same sex ratio in 2011 as in 1981 we would have had 3.9 million more girls. This is the number of girl children that have been eliminated. The danger is real and present and needs urgent response.

It is no longer a secret that medical mercenaries determine the sex of the foetus and disclose it to the parents. They do so for profit and in violation of the law. An estimated 500,000 to 600,000 girl children are eliminated by sex-selective abortions every year through nearly twice the number of sonographies - making it a million rupee industry.

Lucrative profit margins have made MNCs actively aid and abet this "crime for profit" - whether it is the suppliers of ultrasound machines or those facilitating advertisements on the internet or through search engines. The problem continues unabated. It’s time to see how Internet search engines are faring in this battle. Under the law, advertisements offering sex determination services are prohibited in India. While the advertisements in print and television have practically disappeared due to the intervention of courts, the internet has become a source of vigorous promotion of sex selection.

Various search engines have become equal opportunity offenders by simultaneously targeting different segments of Indian society. For the elite, they target advertisements from clinics in Bangkok and Dubai as also Cyprus, Britain and the US. For the middle class, ordering of online kits has been made easier by providing easy access to various links from trillions of internet pages. For the astrologically-inclined, there is a vast treasure of mantras, suitable tithis (dates) and the like, not to speak of the Chinese gender charts and ovulation advice et al.

Though the Supreme Court had issued many directions to the authorities concerned, the issue of Internet advertisements had, until quite recently, remained intractable - mostly due to the complex and technical nature of the operation of the net. Unlike print or electronic media where advertisements are viewed by the entire public, the Internet facilitates direct targeting of only interested persons.

Thus there is no public outrage caused when individuals in their private space access information and services and commit the crime of sex selection. While the response of the ministries concerned had earlier been less decisive on the technical and legal aspects of the issue, the IT and health ministries have in a couple of recent hearings taken a clear and firm stand against the Internet giants.

To some extent, this was also facilitated by the recent developments in the US and Europe, where these search engine giants have complied with the directions of various courts to disallow certain contents violative of local laws. The game becomes different when these companies face Indian courts. One of the companies had initially argued that the Indian courts have no jurisdiction since their servers were located in the US.

Interestingly, some of the search engine companies have stated before the US Congress that they are bound by the local laws of the destination countries. Yet, we find these giants dragging their feet in following the directions of the Supreme Court - for instance, its order of December 4, 2014.

One finds some of the offending advertisements not being removed from the net. On January 28, a two-judge bench gave unambiguous directions to Google, Yahoo and Microsoft that they "shall not advertise or sponsor any advertisement" that violates the law. The violations of Supreme Court orders amount to contempt - nothing more, nothing less.

We must therefore bring each contempt to the notice of the court. Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty - in the present crisis, it is the price of survival itself!The Fourth Battle of Panipat has begun. These net giants, and we, their consumers, have to decide whether they stand with the daughters of India or stand against them. Let us fire the first salvo.

By:Satish Agnihotri