'Extremely serious': SC asks Centre to prevent child abuse material from appearing online

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday termed the issue of Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Material (CSEAM) "extremely serious" and asked the Centre to focus on preventing such content from being uploaded or appearing online in the first place.

A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran asked the Centre to consider measures to ensure that such material is prevented from being uploaded or surfaced online.

The court was hearing a plea filed by Just Rights for Children Alliance (JRCA), through its founder Bhuwan Ribhu, seeking effective implementation of the directions issued by the Supreme Court in its September 23, 2024, judgment in Just Rights for Children Alliance & Anr vs S Harish & Ors.

The petitioner told the court that nearly two years had passed since the judgment, but its directions had not been effectively implemented.

The Centre informed the bench that it would file an affidavit and an action-taken report detailing the steps taken to implement the court's directions. It also said that a standard operating procedure (SOP) was being prepared.

SC gives Centre 'one last opportunity' to file report

On August 14, the Supreme Court had directed the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the Ministry of Law and Justice to submit their responses or reports on the matter.

As no report was filed, the bench gave the Centre "one last opportunity" to place its response on record.

The court asked the Centre to explain the measures it proposed to take and how it intended to implement the directions issued in the September 23, 2024, judgment.

It also sought details of the precautions that could be adopted to ensure that CSEAM does not surface online.

The bench directed that the draft SOP be served on the petitioner four to five days before the next hearing to enable the petitioner to submit its comments.

The matter has been listed for further hearing on October 15.