Child Porn On Social Media: Delhi Police Seeks Action Against Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey For Delaying Investigation

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police has filed a Section 175 notice in court, seeking action against Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and former India managing director Manish Maheshwari in connection with the distribution of child sexual abuse content on the social networking platform.

According to a copy of the notice accessed by The420.in, the Delhi Police stated that Twitter withheld information about the handles requested by them on purpose and employed delaying tactics by claiming mechanisms such as the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT).

“….Twitter is asking for a request under MLAT which is a complex inter-governmental time consuming process and it will take several more months to process the MLAT. Knowing fully that record of IP address is available for a period of only one year, Twitter is asking for MLAT and in this way Twitter is intentionally denying to provide requisite information to a public servant which they are legally bound to provide,” senior Delhi Police officer mentioned.

Following a complaint from the National Commission for the Protection of Children’s Rights (NCPCR), the Delhi Police filed a FIR against Twitter for allegedly facilitating access to child pornography on its platform.

ALSO READ: Delhi Police Files FIR Against Twitter For Having Child Porn On Site: NCPCR

The case was filed under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act, and the Information Technology Act.

The NCPCR said that Twitter had multiple linkages to child pornography and the dark web. In response, Twitter stated that Twitter India and Twitter Inc were two independent entities, with the former having no control over material on the site.

After further examination, the commission discovered that Twitter Inc held 99 percent of Twitter India’s shares.

According to the FIR, a complaint alleges that the co-founder of a fact-checking website, as well as Twitter users, harassed a juvenile girl online. It further highlights how Twitter failed to disclose the incident to Indian authorities, instead submitting it to US authorities, in violation of the POCSO Act.

The FIR also named ten Twitter accounts that were involved in child pornography.