The Central government has asked all States and Union Territories to act on anonymous cybercrime complaints related to crimes against women and children.
The Central government has asked all States and Union Territories to act on anonymous cybercrime complaints related to crimes against women and children (Image for representation)
The Central government has asked all States and Union Territories to act on anonymous cybercrime complaints related to crimes against women and children, and stop closing them on the grounds that the victim cannot be identified.
The government also flagged a growing concern that anonymous complaints filed on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) are being shut down by state law enforcement agencies, citing the inability to identify the victim, while the harmful online content flagged in those complaints remains untouched.
“States and UTs are regularly closing anonymous complaints and ‘Report and Track’ complaints stating that the victim couldn’t be identified, while actual action to take down online content is not being taken,” the official said, quoting a document.
According to the sources, a large number of complaints were getting dismissed due to being anonymous, and the content was floating online.
The Centre has now made it clear that the inability to identify a complainant or victim cannot be grounds to shut a case, particularly when the complaint pertains to child sexual abuse material (CSAM), online child pornography, or sexually exploitative content.
India’s National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) allows citizens to file complaints anonymously, specifically for cases involving child pornography and rape or gang rape content. The portal, run by the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Ministry of Home Affairs, was designed to ensure that victims and witnesses who fear exposure can still flag harmful content.
However, officials say the intent of the anonymous reporting mechanism is being defeated at the state level, where complaints are being administratively closed rather than acted upon.
The centre asked states to ensure that even when a complainant’s identity is unknown, action on the reported online content, including takedowns, must follow.
What Data Reveals
Child Pornography/ CSAM complaints grew nearly fivefold from 2,109 in 2021 to 10,431 in 2025. Fake and Impersonating Profiles nearly tripled from 15,843 to 46,784, while Cyber Bullying, Stalking and Sexting more than doubled from 21,589 to 45,832. Profile Hacking and Identity Theft peaked at 38,297 in 2024 before declining slightly to 34,533 in 2025, according to the data given by MHA in the parliament.
Data shows the Cybercrime complaints related to crimes against women reported on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) have crossed 9.54 lakh over five years, with 2025 recording the highest annual tally in both major categories.
Across two broad categories, sexual content-related crimes and online/social media crime complaints have surged. The Online and Social Media Related Crime category alone logged 1,73,766 complaints in 2025, up from 72,301 in 2021, a rise of over 140 per cent in four years.
April 02, 2026, 09:52 IST
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