Supreme Court seeks Centre’s response after petition says social media firms failing to report CESAM violations

The Supreme Court recently requested the Indian government to respond to a petition that demands social media platforms enforce their obligations in reporting Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Material (CESAM). A two-judge bench, consisting of Justices Jamshed Burjor Pardiwala and Krishnan Vinod Chandran, issued a notice to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) after receiving an application from the Just Rights for Children Alliance (JRCA), a coalition of NGOs focused on combating child sexual exploitation and trafficking.

The petition cited several investigative reports, including one from the BBC, alleging that Instagram was running advertisements that promoted CESAM. Another report by the Indian Express revealed that the Central government had issued a notice to Meta, the parent company of Instagram, concerning these allegations. The petition called for the implementation and adherence to the September 23, 2024 ruling, which highlighted social media intermediaries' legal duty to report CESAM offenses to the police under Sections 19 and 20 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, along with Rule 11 of the POCSO Rules, 2020.

Advocate H S Phoolka argued on behalf of JRCA, emphasizing that social media platforms cannot be exempt from liability under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, 2000, unless they demonstrate due diligence and compliance with the POCSO Act and its rules. The legal brief highlighted that merely reporting CESAM cases to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, USA, does not meet the mandatory reporting requirements under the POCSO Act.

Moreover, social media companies are also obligated to report not only the commission of POCSO offenses but also the likelihood of such offenses occurring, as required by Section 19 of the act. The court further permitted the applicant group to hold the implicated social media intermediaries accountable in the legal proceedings.