Terming the issue of Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Material (CSEAM) "extremely serious", the Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Centre to focus on preventing such material from 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 said it would file an affidavit and an action-taken report before the court. It also informed the bench that a standard operating procedure (SOP) was being prepared.
On August 14, the court had directed the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the Ministry of Law and Justice to file their counter or report.
As no report was filed, the bench gave the Centre "one last opportunity" to place its response on record.
The Centre has been asked to explain what measures it proposes to take and how it intends to implement the directions issued in the September 23, 2024 judgment.
The court also sought details of precautions that could be taken to ensure that CSEAM does not surface online.
The draft SOP is to be served on the petitioner four to five days before the next hearing so that the petitioner can offer its comments.
The matter has been listed for further hearing on October 15.
(With inputs from PTI)