The Supreme Court has issued notice to the Centre through the Ministry of Information and Technology (MeitY) and the Ministry of Law and Justice on an application seeking implementation of its directions on the mandatory reporting of Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Material (CSEAM) by social media intermediaries.
The matter was heard by a bench comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Vinod Chandran. The Court also permitted the petitioner, Just Rights for Children Alliance (JRCA), to move an application seeking implementation of the concerned intermediaries in the proceedings, to further ensure implementation of the directions issued by the Court in its judgment dated September 23, 2024, in Just Rights for Children Alliance and Anr. vs. S Harish & Ors.
The JRCA was represented by senior SC advocate HS Phoolka. It’s India’s largest civil society network with over 250 NGOs against child sexual exploitation, child trafficking, and child marriage.
The application was filed by JRCA in the wake of a media (BBC) report alleging that Instagram carried paid advertisements promoting CSEAM, raising serious concerns over compliance with the Supreme Court’s earlier directions and the statutory obligations of intermediaries.
