The Supreme Court of India has called upon the Central government to respond to a petition demanding the enforcement of its directives concerning the obligatory reporting of Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Material (CSEAM) by social media platforms. This plea, filed by the Just Rights for Children Alliance (JRCA), seeks criminal accountability for intermediaries that neglect their duty to report such material.
In the case Just Rights for Children Alliance & Anr. v. S. Harish & Ors, a bench comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Vinod Chandran issued a notice to the government, urging it to address the issues raised by the petitioners. The plea underscores the need for implementing the Supreme Court’s September 2024 ruling, which mandates social media intermediaries to report CSEAM-related offenses to the appropriate authorities under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO Act).
The court’s 2024 ruling also clarifies that intermediaries cannot invoke Section 79 of the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000 as a defense unless they demonstrate due diligence and adhere to the obligations outlined in the POCSO Act and its accompanying rules. The petition highlights inconsistencies in compliance with these directives across social media platforms.
The JRCA petition advocates for the creation and publication of a standardized operating procedure (SOP) for intermediaries. This SOP would cover the detection and mandatory reporting of CSEAM, the preservation of electronic evidence, and coordination among relevant governmental agencies.
This legal challenge arises following a BBC report that exposed the presence of paid advertisements promoting CSEAM on Instagram, which purportedly redirected users to Telegram channels offering such content for a fee. Meta, Instagram’s parent company, informed the BBC that it reports any suspected child sexual exploitation to the US-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). However, the petition points out that the report does not clarify whether these instances are also reported to India’s Special Juvenile Police Unit or local law enforcement, as necessitated by the POCSO Act and the Supreme Court’s ruling.
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Moreover, the plea notes that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) sought clarification from Meta following the BBC’s revelations. Despite this, the problem extends beyond Meta or Instagram, affecting all social media platforms operating within India. The petition argues for criminal proceedings against any platform that fails to comply with these mandatory reporting obligations.
The plea was submitted through advocate Saksham Maheshwari, emphasizing the need for stringent measures to ensure the protection of children’s rights in the digital space.
