Plea in Supreme Court seeks criminal action against social media platforms failing to report child porn

The Supreme Court on Friday sought the Central government’s response to a plea seeking implementation of the top court's directions on the mandatory reporting of Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Material (CSEAM) by social media intermediaries. [Just Rights for Children Alliance & Anr. v. S. Harish & Ors]

The plea also said there should be criminal action against intermediaries that fail to report CSEAM.

A Bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and Vinod Chandran issued notice to the government on the plea.

The plea was filed by Just Rights for Children Alliance (JRCA) seeking implementation of the Supreme Court’s September 2024 judgment, which held that social media intermediaries are mandatorily required to report offences relating to CSEAM to the concerned police authorities under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO Act) and the rules framed under it.

The Court had also held that an intermediary cannot claim protection under Section 79 of the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000 unless it exercises due diligence and complies with its obligations under the POCSO Act and Rules.

The plea before the top court said that subsequent developments indicated that these directions were not being uniformly complied with.

It, therefore, sought the formulation and notification of a uniform standard operating procedure (SOP) for intermediaries covering detection and mandatory reporting of CSEAM, preservation of electronic evidence and coordination among relevant agencies.

The plea was moved in the backdrop of a BBC report alleging that paid advertisements promoting CSEAM were displayed on Instagram and redirected users to Telegram channels where such material was allegedly offered for money.

According to the plea, Meta told the BBC that whenever it becomes aware of apparent child sexual exploitation, it reports such instances to the US-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).

However, the plea pointed out that the report does not indicate whether such instances are also reported to the Special Juvenile Police Unit or local police in India, as required under the POCSO Act and the Supreme Court’s 2024 judgment.

The plea also noted that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) sought an explanation from Meta after the BBC report.

However, the issue is not limited to Meta or Instagram and concerns compliance by all social media intermediaries operating in India.

Hence, there should be appropriate criminal proceedings against platforms that fail to comply with mandatory reporting requirements, it was argued.

The plea was filed through advocate Saksham Maheshwari.