Centre to hold meeting with Google, Microsoft, Facebook over circulation of child pornographic content

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) will hold a meeting with internet giants, social media platforms and other stakeholders on the issue of circulation of videos and images relating to child pornography and sexual offence, the Supreme Court was informed on Tuesday.

A Bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde posted the matter for hearing after four weeks and in the meantime, the Centre will hold a meeting with intermediaries including Google, Microsoft and Facebook and other stakeholders to deal with the issue of circulation of videos of child pornography, rape and gang rape.

The court was hearing a matter following a letter sent in 2015 to the apex court by Hyderabad-based NGO Prajwala, along with two rape videos in a pen-drive.

Advocate Aparna Bhat, appearing for one of the parties in the case, informed the court that the government had come with a portal and but since September government has not conducted any meeting with the parties and intermediaries.

The government had set up a portal for centralised lodging of complaints by citizens against child pornography and rape videos circulated on social networks.

The amicus curiae in the case, advocate NS Nappinai, submitted a status report to the Court detailing the steps taken so far since the 2018 order. In October 2018, the Supreme Court had laid down proposals and guidelines to tackle this issue.

The amicus said that there is also another issue that when pornographic content is circulated and a complaint is made, the content is removed only from one point but remaining copies which may have been circulated at some other point is not removed.