The Supreme Court has requested the Indian government to respond to a petition advocating for enhanced enforcement and standardised procedures to regulate reporting and suppression of child sexual exploitation content on social media platforms, following allegations of non-compliance by platforms like Instagram.
The Supreme Court has asked the Union government to respond to a petition seeking tighter enforcement of rules that require online intermediaries to report child sexual exploitation and abuse material to law-enforcement agencies. A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran issued notice to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the Ministry of Law and Justice on an application filed by the Just Rights for Children Alliance.
The court also allowed the petitioner to seek the impleadment of the relevant social media companies so that any directions can be implemented more effectively. According to the application, the issue is not limited to one platform but concerns how uniformly India’s legal obligations are applied across intermediaries operating in the country. The plea was prompted by a BBC report alleging that Instagram had carried paid advertisements promoting such material.
The group argued that every act of circulation, publication, promotion or monetisation of child sexual exploitation and abuse material through digital platforms amounts to a continuing offence and undermines the dignity, privacy and bodily integrity of child victims. It said this also defeats the purpose of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012. In its judgment of September 23, 2024, the Supreme Court had already held that intermediaries must report such content to law-enforcement agencies under Sections 19 to 21 of the POCSO Act and Rule 11 of the POCSO Rules, while also examining those duties alongside safe-harbour protection under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act.
Seeking a stronger enforcement framework, the petition has called for a uniform standard operating procedure for platforms covering detection, reporting and preservation of such content, along with better coordination between agencies. It has also sought prompt entry of offenders’ details into the National Database of Sexual Offenders, time-bound action by police on reports sent by intermediaries, criminal action against non-compliant platforms and a central online reporting mechanism. The alliance said firmer enforcement is needed to stop continued online circulation of the material.
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