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The Supreme Court on Thursday took a serious view of the online circulation of child sexual abuse material, asking the Central government to explore effective technical and administrative measures to prevent such content from being uploaded to the internet in the first place. A bench comprising Justice J. B. Pardiwala and Justice K. Vinod Chandran observed that regulatory focus cannot remain confined to taking down abusive material after it appears online, emphasizing that robust mechanisms must be developed to stop it from becoming publicly accessible.
Inadequate compliance with earlier directions
The observations came during the hearing of a petition filed by the Just Rights for Children Alliance, which contended that earlier directives issued by the top court have seen inadequate compliance. The petitioner submitted that despite the Supreme Court delivering several key directions on September 23, 2024, to curb the availability and circulation of child sexual abuse material, the measures have not been fully or effectively implemented nearly two years later. The organization pressed for stronger institutional systems to stop the dissemination of such material across digital platforms.
Digital child sexual abuse material presents severe enforcement challenges because content spreads rapidly across platforms, accounts, and private communication channels. The bench noted that once illicit media surfaces online, checking its secondary circulation becomes significantly harder, making pre-upload prevention essential.
Centre working on standard operating procedure
In response, the Centre informed the bench that it would submit an affidavit alongside an action-taken report detailing the steps taken so far. The government also told the court that a Standard Operating Procedure is currently being drafted to streamline how enforcement bodies and internet platforms handle cases involving child sexual abuse material.
The proposed procedure aims to bring greater operational clarity to inter-agency cooperation and platform responsibilities. However, specific information regarding the framework of the standard procedure and its implementation schedule has not yet been placed on record.
Action-taken report sought ahead of next hearing
Directing the Centre to formalize its position, the court asked for a full accounting of past enforcement measures as well as forward-looking proposals. The forthcoming government affidavit and action-taken report are expected to outline the status of compliance with the September 23, 2024 directions, alongside the preventive interventions being planned.
The Supreme Court is set to review the Centre’s response, the proposed standard operating procedure, and the status report at the next hearing, which has been listed for October 15.
