The Supreme Court has expressed grave concern regarding the inability of social media platforms to effectively manage and eliminate sexually explicit content involving minors. The court has mandated that all online intermediaries must ensure that any content that could potentially harm children is neither hosted nor circulated, whether through paywalls or subscriptions, as reported by Press Trust of India.

A Bench comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran highlighted that social media platforms have consistently failed to adhere to the directives issued by the court in 2024. The justices emphasised the need for a practical framework aimed at enhancing the safety of children on the internet.

The court’s directives included a clear prohibition against offering, hosting, uploading, promoting, or circulating any Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Material (CSEAM) or any other harmful content. The Bench underscored that these measures must be enforced both directly and indirectly.

Failure to Comply with Previous Orders

The Supreme Court noted that despite the passage of over two years since its previous ruling, there has been no significant progress in addressing the issues surrounding child safety online. The court remarked on October 15 that recent reports indicate an increasingly alarming situation regarding the welfare of children in the digital space.

In light of the lack of proactive measures by regulatory bodies and social media intermediaries, the court felt compelled to intervene. The justices reiterated that there should be no tolerance for non-consensual and exploitative material on the internet, particularly on platforms accessible to vulnerable populations.

The court has instructed the Centre to explore the establishment of a framework that would impose stringent monetary penalties on intermediaries failing to fulfil their responsibilities under the Information Technology Act. These penalties should reflect the severity, duration, and recurrence of violations, alongside the intermediary’s financial capacity.

Framework for Monitoring and Enforcement

The Supreme Court has mandated that any revenue generated from hosting or circulating CSEAM or other prohibited content must be forfeited. It also stated that the right to access the internet is a fundamental right under Article 21, in conjunction with Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. The court argued that children, irrespective of their age, deserve the same rights and protections as adults.

The justices pointed out that children often continue to access the internet without parental supervision, which raises concerns about their safety on unregulated platforms. They asserted that merely restricting children’s access to social media would not effectively reduce incidents of exploitation. The court called for the Centre to develop guidelines for the use of perceptual hash matching and URL listing to detect and eliminate CSEAM from major social media platforms.

Additionally, it directed the establishment of a National Hash & URL List Database dedicated to this purpose. In a previous ruling on September 23, 2024, the Supreme Court had recommended that Parliament consider amending the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act to replace the term “child pornography” with “child sexual exploitative and abuse material.” This change aims to better reflect the nature of such offences.

The latest directives from the Supreme Court require intermediaries to actively prevent the distribution and monetisation of harmful content involving children while also establishing penalties and detection systems. The court has made it clear that these measures should not involve a blanket restriction on children’s access to the internet.

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