India's apex court has ordered the central government, working alongside platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, and YouTube, to take prompt action in locating and removing child sexual exploitation and abuse material — commonly referred to as CSEAM — wherever it appears online.

The bench, chaired by Justice JB Pardiwala, voiced concern about the growing volume of child sexual exploitation and abuse material spreading across social media, issuing a package of 20 directives aimed at the central government and relevant stakeholders to bolster detection and removal frameworks.

The proceedings were prompted by a public interest petition lodged by the NGO Just Rights For Children Alliance, with senior advocate HS Phoolka arguing on its behalf, which brought before the court the matter of strengthening detection and removal of child sexual exploitation and abuse material from social media platforms and other online services.

The bench directed the central government to explore building a regulatory structure under which intermediaries found to have violated their obligations under the Information Technology Act and its accompanying Rules could face substantial financial penalties. Any such penalty amount would be calibrated against factors including the seriousness of the violation, how long it persisted, whether it had occurred before, and the scale and annual revenue of the platform in question.

The Centre has been directed to file a court-ordered affidavit laying out the specific tools and technical measures that intermediaries have put in place to identify and remove child sexual exploitation and abuse material from their platforms. A separate sworn affidavit detailing the degree to which intermediaries meet these obligations is also to be filed by the Centre.

Guidelines and standard operating procedures covering this area are to be drawn up by the Centre. Under those guidelines or standard operating procedures, each intermediary would be required to adopt a defined set of tools and technical countermeasures aimed at identifying and removing child sexual exploitation and abuse material. Revisions to the IT Rules are to be introduced by the Centre in areas where they are found to be needed.

Under the IT Rules, any intermediary that identifies and removes child sexual exploitation and abuse material whose source cannot be established is required to carry out appropriate verification and due diligence before taking that action. When such circumstances arise, the intermediary carries a legal obligation to flag the material to the relevant oversight body without delay.

Under Rule 3(2)(a) of the IT Rules, any platform or service acting as an intermediary is required to place contact details for its grievance officer — along with a clear path for lodging complaints — in a visible position on the landing page or opening screen of its website or app.

Any report or complaint tied to CSEAM is to have a reference number assigned to it and receive a formal response within one day of being logged.

Penalties of an exemplary monetary nature levied against intermediaries that fall short of their obligations under the IT Act and IT Rules are among the measures the Centre has been asked to explore through a dedicated regulatory framework. When calculating financial penalties, regulators are directed to weigh the seriousness of the breach, how long it persisted, whether it occurred before, and the size of the intermediary's business and revenue.

Any revenue an intermediary collects through a paywall or subscription arrangement where child sexual exploitation and abuse material — or other banned content — has been hosted, uploaded, promoted, or distributed, whether directly or at a remove, is to be surrendered in full. Platform intermediaries have received formal notification that any material distributed through paid-access or subscription-based channels is subject to thorough review for adherence to the IT Act, IT Rules, and other relevant statutory frameworks.

Platforms and services operating behind paywalls or subscription models are under an obligation to prevent child sexual abuse and exploitation material — along with any other content liable to harm minors — from being made available, stored, uploaded, promoted, or distributed through their systems, whether through direct means or otherwise. Platform operators carrying content accessible to minors — whether behind a subscription barrier or open to the public — are under a duty to keep sexually explicit, indecent, or otherwise inappropriate material from being recommended or surfaced to those users. Platforms carrying such material are required to put in place safeguards to keep minors from signing up for or reaching it.

Under guidelines to be established by the Centre, paywalled and subscription-gated platforms would face structured review processes aimed at identifying and taking down child sexual exploitation and abuse material. Under those guidelines, the types of content available to children — whether accessed directly or through subscription — would be subject to measures that are both reasonable and proportionate.

Responsibility for acting on the recommendations, protective measures, and safeguards outlined in the ruling falls to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the Ministry of Law and Justice, both operating under central government authority. Guidelines, standard operating procedures, and any needed revisions to the IT Act and IT Rules are to be drawn up by the central government. Before the next scheduled hearing, the Centre is to submit an affidavit detailing the steps taken toward putting those measures into effect.

A compliance affidavit from the Centre is due before the Supreme Court no later than 10 December 2026.