New Delhi:
The Supreme Court on Monday raised alarm over the Madras High Court’s decision not to criminalize downloading of child pornography. A bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud issued notices to the Tamil Nadu Police and the accused in the case.
The Supreme Court is hearing a plea to the High Court’s shock ruling in January that downloading child pornography is not an offense under POCSO or the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act or the Information Technology Act , because such actions are “conducted in privacy and do not affect privacy.” or affect anyone else”.
“The elements of the crime begin to emerge when the defendant attempts to disseminate, distribute or publicly display obscene photos and videos…” the court said.
The court held that the accused must have created, published and disseminated the material to commit an offense under POCSO and the IT Act. Regarding the Information Technology Act, it said the relevant sections do not cover cases where an individual merely downloads and watches content without performing any further operations.
As a result, the court dropped the case against a 28-year-old man accused of downloading child pornography to his mobile phone.
Read | Madras High Court raises concerns over Gen Z ‘coping’ with pornography
As a result, all legal actions against the defendants were dropped.
However, the High Court did complain that today’s children “struggle” with viewing pornography, claiming this could have negative consequences years later.
The court also declared the defendant “suffering from this (pornographic content) addiction” and recommended counseling for a “healthy and happy future.”
In October last year, the central government issued notices to social media platforms X (formerly Twitter), YouTube and Telegram, warning them that they would lose their legal immunity if they did not take immediate action on the issue.
These platforms are required to permanently remove or disable access to child pornography.
Read | ‘Fight child porn or lose legal immunity’: Center for tech giants
The center’s action follows reports that Instagram, another social media platform, is home to a vast network that creates and shares such content. A Wall Street Journal report said Instagram’s algorithm connected and promoted this network of people looking for illegal sexual content and activity.
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