Govt asks social media platforms to remove child sexual abuse material

Taking a serious view of growing prevalence of child abuse videos on social media platforms, the government has issued a notice to all social media platforms, including X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, and Telegram, directing them to immediately remove Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) from their platforms in the country.

The notice also called for implementation of proactive measures for the removal of CSAM and underscores the significance of swiftly and permanently eliminating such content. Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, has been an outspoken proponent of removing harmful content from the Indian internet, aligning this approach with the ministry’s policy vision.

The ministry added that “delay in complying with the notices will result in the withdrawal of their safe harbour protection under Section 79 of the IT Act”.

“There will be ZERO tolerance for criminal & harmful content on Indian Internet. IT Rules under the IT Act clearly lays down the expectation from Intermediaries: They cannot host criminal & harmful content like CSAM,” Chandrasekhar wrote on Twitter.

However, it is not clear that what prompted the government to issue notice to the three platforms.

The notices also emphasize that failure to comply with these requirements will be considered a violation of Rule 3(1)(b) and Rule 4(4) of the IT Rules, 2021, according to the ministry.

The Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000, provides the legal framework for addressing pornographic content, including CSAM.

Sections 66E, 67, 67A, and 67B of the IT Act impose severe penalties and fines for the online transmission of obscene or pornographic content.

Nonetheless, a New York Times report from February highlighted that following Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter (now X), instances of CSAM on the platform increased. This surge was attributed to the dismissal of experienced teams responsible for addressing the issue. In July, Musk controversially reinstated a suspended far-right Twitter account named “Dom Lucre” that had previously posted CSAM.