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2018 Supreme(SC) 1357

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
Madan B. Lokur, Uday Umesh Lalit, JJ.
In Re : Prajwala Letter Dated 18.2.2015 Videos Of Sexual Violence And Recommendations
SMW (Crl.)No(s).3 of 2015
Decided On : 08-01-2018

Advocates Appeared:
Ms. Aparna Bhat, AOR, Mr. Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, Ms. Joshita Pai and Ms. Raj Kumari Banju, Advocates., for the Appellant(s); Mr. Maninder Singh, ASG, Mr. R. Balasubramanian, Ms. Gunwant Dara, Ms. Rashmi Malhotra, Mr. P.K. Dey, Ms. Sushma Suri, AOR(NP) and Mr. Mukesh Kumar Maroria, AOR(NP), Advocates, for the Respondent(s) For CBI/MHA; Mr. Samir Ali Khan, AOR Mr. Sanjay Kumar, Advocate Mr. Soham Kumar, Mr. Kushank Sindhu, Advocates, for the Yahoo; Mr. Sidharth Luthra, Senior Advocate. Mr. Manu Krishnan, Ms. Richa Srivastava, Mr. Tejas Chhabra, Mr. Nitin Saluja, Mr. Kumar Vaibhav and Mr. S.S. Shroff, AOR(NP), Advocates, for the Facebook Ireland; Ms. Richa Srivastava, Advocate. Mr. S.S. Shroff, AOR (NP), for the Facebook India; Mr. Sajan Poovayya, Senior Advocate. Ms. Ruby Singh Ahuja, Mr. Vishal Gehrana, Ms. Tahira Karanjawala, Mr. Arvind Chari, Mr. Priyadarshi Banerjee, Mr. Saransh Kumar, Mr. S. Pratibhanu Singh Kharela, Mr. Sharvan Sahny, Mr. Anupam Prakash, Mrs. Manik Karanjawala, and Mr. Avishkar Singhvi, Advocates. for M/s. Karanjawala & Co, for the Google; Mr. V. Giri, Senior Advocate. Mr. Amar Gupta and Mr. Akhil Bhardwaj, Advocates. Mr. Divyam Agarwal, AOR, for the Microsoft; Mr. Kapil Sibal, Senior Advocate. Mr. Tejas Karia, Mr. Shashank Mishra, Mr. Koshy John, Mr. Vivek Reddy, Mr. Raghav Tankha, Mr. Ashwin Reddy, Mr. Pranav Awasthi Advocates and Mr. S.S. Shroff, (NP), for the WhatsApp

The court emphasized the need for effective measures for the identification and reporting of online child pornography/rape/gang rape content, and directed the Union of India to provide updates on the progress made in this regard.

Headnote:

Keywords - Online Child Pornography Reporting - The court heard submissions regarding the identification of keywords for child pornography/rape and gang rape content search, as well as the development of an online cyber crime reporting portal. The matter was adjourned to assess the progress made by the Union of India in this regard.

Fact of the Case:

The court heard submissions regarding the identification of keywords for child pornography/rape and gang rape content search, as well as the development of an online cyber crime reporting portal. The matter was adjourned to assess the progress made by the Union of India in this regard.

Finding of the Court:

The court adjourned the matter to 15th February, 2018 at 2.00 p.m. to be made aware of the progress made by the Union of India in the development of an online cyber crime reporting portal and the identification of keywords for child pornography/rape and gang rape content search.

Issues: Identification of keywords for child pornography/rape and gang rape content search, development of an online cyber crime reporting portal, and progress made by the Union of India in this regard.

Ratio Decidendi: The court emphasized the importance of developing effective measures for the identification and reporting of online child pornography/rape/gang rape content, and directed the Union of India to provide updates on the progress made in this regard.

Final Decision: The matter was adjourned to 15th February, 2018 at 2.00 p.m. for the Union of India to provide updates on the progress made in the development of an online cyber crime reporting portal and the identification of keywords for child pornography/rape and gang rape content search.

ORDER

1. We have heard learned counsel for the parties and learned amicus curiae.

2. Learned Additional Solicitor General has placed on record a status report in the matter of Videos of sexual violence and recommendations.

3. It is stated in the status report, inter alia, that the Ministry of Home Affairs has identified the keywords for child pornography/rape and gang rape content search and a list of keywords in English language has been compiled and circulated to content providers for further action. Efforts are being made to update the list on regular basis.

4. It is orally submitted before us that the keywords in other languages will also be taken up for consideration in due course of time.

5. It is further stated that online cyber crime reporting portal has been developed with access name as www.cyberpolice.gov.in and that this portal is undergoing security audit and has been deployed in staging environment for testing and trial. It is expected that it will be operational very soon.

6. It is further stated that certain features will be made operational by 10th January, 2018 and offered to public such as anonymous reporting of child pornography/rape/gang rape content and online registration of cyber complaints which will be forwarded to the concerned State/UT police authorities for appropriate action.

7. It is also stated that certain other features are likely to be made operational by 10th February, 2018 with regard to providing status update of complaints to registered complainants, portal access to other stakeholders willing to register for providing inputs on child pornography/rape/gang rape content and maintaining hash tag of obscene content.

8. For the time being, we adjourn the matter to 15th February, 2018 at 2.00 p.m. so that we are made aware of the progress made by the Union of India in this regard. Further orders will be passed after the hearing on 15th February, 2018.

9. It is stated by learned counsel for the petitioner that her impression is that Facebook is developing or has developed new "proactive detection" technology for real time screening through artificial intelligence. In this regard, learned counsel appearing for Facebook may file an affidavit indicating whether any such technology has been developed and if it has not been developed the progress made for developing such technology, if any.

10. The affidavit be filed within three weeks.

11. List the matter on 15th February, 2018 at 2.00 p.m.

12. It is made clear that on the next date of hearing also the proceedings will be held in-camera.

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