The Supreme Court has issued notice to the Union Government seeking a response on a plea demanding stricter enforcement of its 2024 directions, which require social media platforms to report Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Material (CSEAM) to the police.
A Bench of Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice K. Vinod Chandran issued the notice through the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the Ministry of Law and Justice. The Court also directed the petitioner to formally bring the concerned social media platforms into the case as parties to the proceedings.
What the Plea Is Asking For
The application was filed by the Just Rights for Children Alliance, which pointed to allegations that certain social media platforms were carrying advertisements linked to child sexual abuse material. The plea seeks compliance with the Supreme Court's September 2024 ruling in Just Rights for Children Alliance v. S. Harish, a judgment that had already clarified the reporting obligations of online intermediaries under Sections 19 and 20 of the POCSO Act, 2012.
Essentially, the petitioner is asking the Court to ensure its earlier directions are actually being followed in practice, and to take action against platforms that may not be meeting their mandatory reporting duties.
The Core Issue: Where Reports Actually Need to Go
A key part of the plea centres on where intermediaries are sending their reports. According to the petitioner, simply forwarding flagged material to the US-based National Center for Missing & Exploited Children does not, on its own, satisfy what Indian law requires.
The plea argues that under the POCSO framework, this information must also be reported directly to the Special Juvenile Police Unit or local police in India, not routed exclusively through an overseas body. In other words, the case isn't questioning whether intermediaries are reporting at all, it's questioning whether they're reporting to the right authorities under Indian law.
What Happens Next
Having heard the matter, the Supreme Court issued notice to the Union Government and asked the petitioner to bring the relevant social media platforms into the proceedings as parties. That means the intermediaries in question will now be directly involved as the Court examines whether current practices genuinely meet the requirements set out in the POCSO Act and the Court's own 2024 judgment.
The case will now move forward with the Centre's formal response and the participation of the concerned platforms, as the Court continues to weigh how mandatory CSEAM reporting obligations should be enforced going forward.
FAQs
Q1. What is the Supreme Court plea about?
It seeks stricter enforcement of the Court's 2024 directions requiring social media platforms to report Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Material (CSEAM) to police, as required under the POCSO Act.
Q2. Who filed the plea, and why?
The Just Rights for Children Alliance filed it, citing concerns that platforms were carrying advertisements linked to child sexual abuse material and may not be meeting their legal reporting obligations.
Q3. What is the main legal issue being raised?
Whether reporting such material only to the US-based National Center for Missing & Exploited Children satisfies Indian law, or whether platforms are also required to report directly to Indian police authorities under the POCSO framework.
Q4. What did the Supreme Court order in this hearing?
It issued notice to the Union Government for a response and directed the petitioner to formally add the concerned social media platforms as parties to the case.