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The Supreme Court on Thursday granted the Centre a final opportunity to place on record the measures taken to prevent the circulation of child sexual exploitation and abuse material (CSEAM) through social media platforms.
A Bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice K Vinod Chandran was hearing a petition by the Just Rights for Children Alliance (JRCA), which has sought action against intermediaries for allegedly failing to report such material to Indian authorities.
The Bench had on August 14 called for responses from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the Ministry of Law and Justice on the steps taken to implement its directions on tackling CSEAM. However, no response had been filed by Thursday.
“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 Bench said.
Additional Solicitor General KM Nataraj, appearing for the Centre, told the court that the government was treating the issue seriously and had already issued notice and initiated proceedings against one company.
The court directed the Union government to disclose the measures undertaken to give effect to its September 2024 judgment, which had clarified the obligations of intermediaries in cases involving child sexual abuse material.
In that judgment, the Supreme Court held that viewing or storing such material could attract criminal liability and directed intermediaries to report offences involving CSEAM to the authorities specified under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, and the rules framed under it.
The present petition alleges that compliance by social media platforms remains inconsistent. It has sought a uniform standard operating procedure covering the identification and reporting of CSEAM, preservation of electronic evidence and coordination between intermediaries and law-enforcement agencies.
The Bench also asked the Centre to explain the safeguards it proposes to ensure that social media intermediaries do not fail to comply with their reporting obligations.
The proceedings followed a BBC report that alleged that paid advertisements promoting CSEAM had appeared on Instagram and directed users to Telegram channels where such material was allegedly available for payment.
The petition said Meta had told the BBC that it reports suspected cases of child sexual exploitation to the US-based Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC).
However, it questioned whether such incidents were also being reported to the Special Juvenile Police Unit or local police authorities in India, as required under the POCSO framework and the Supreme Court's 2024 ruling.
The case, Just Rights for Children Alliance & Anr. v. S. Harish & Ors., will next be heard on October 15.
