The Supreme Court on Thursday gave the Central government one last opportunity to explain what it has done to curb the circulation of child sexual exploitation and abuse material (CSEAM) on social media platforms [Just Rights for Children Alliance & Anr. v. S. Harish & Ors.].
A Bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran passed the direction while hearing a plea filed by the Just Rights for Children Alliance (JRCA), seeking criminal action against intermediaries that fail to report CSEAM.
The Court noted that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the Ministry of Law and Justice had yet to file the response it sought on August 14.
“Unfortunately, till this date, no such counter or report has come on record. The matter before us is extremely serious. We grant one last opportunity to both the ministries to file that counter/report,” the Court said.
The plea seeks the implementation of the Supreme Court’s September 2024 judgment, which held that social media intermediaries must report offences involving CSEAM to the police authorities specified under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO Act) and its rules.
The plea says subsequent developments indicate that social media intermediaries have not been uniformly complying with those directions.
It thus sought a formulation and notification of a uniform standard operating procedure (SOP) for detecting and reporting CSEAM, preserving electronic evidence and coordinating with authorities.
During today's hearing, the Bench pointed out that the Union government’s response had been sought on August 14, but that the same was yet to be filed.
“We are taking the matter very seriously, Lordship. In the case of one of the companies, we have already issued notice and initiated proceedings,” Additional Solicitor General (ASG) KM Nataraj, appearing for the Union government, told the Court.
The Bench proceeded to direct the government to report the steps taken to implement its 2024 judgment and curb the circulation of CSEAM.
It also asked what precautions the government plans to take to prevent lapses by social media intermediaries.
The plea was filed in the backdrop of a BBC report alleging that paid advertisements promoting CSEAM appeared on Instagram and directed users to Telegram channels where such material was allegedly offered for money.
According to the plea, Meta told the BBC that it reports apparent child sexual exploitation to the US-based National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).
The plea pointed out that the BBC report did not indicate whether such instances were also reported to the Special Juvenile Police Unit or the local police in India, as required by the POCSO Act and the Supreme Court’s 2024 judgment.
The matter will be heard next on October 15.
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