NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked Google and Apple to take strict action against the dissemination of obscene pornographic content through mobile applications hosted on their online platforms, stating that it cannot allow an entire generation to be “destroyed”.
A bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia said in the current legal framework, social media intermediaries have to play the “most vital role” and must act against the dissemination of pornographic content not only on receipt of a complaint but even at the time of uploading by exercising due diligence.
It also asked the Centre’s Indian Computer Emergency Response Team to check the posting of such content.
The court was hearing a PIL case filed by Rupika Thapa against hosting mobile applications offering vulgar and pornographic content on platforms run by Google and Apple.
The court said orally: “We cannot allow an entire generation of the country to be destroyed. We understand all kinds of freedoms under Article 19 but that does not mean we allow it.”
“We expect that keeping in mind the assertions made in the writ petition, defendants Nos. 2, 3 and 4 should act strictly to ensure that the publication of the videos is immediately checked and follows the IT Rules, 2021 in letter and spirit,” the court ordered.
The court also issued notice to the central government, Google LLC, Apple and CERT-In on the PIL and sought a report on the action taken by the platforms.
The petitioner’s counsel, Advocate Tanmaya Mehta, stressed that the offending mobile applications were readily available to children and they were earning millions of dollars by operating them.
He further said that the apps are also being used as a tool for blackmail and fraud.
Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma said this threat must be curbed and called for more accountability from online platforms.
The petitioner, in the PIL, stated that several mobile applications not originating in India were hosting extremely “vulgar live streaming” with the intention of attracting and retaining users, in flagrant violation of the Information Technology Act, 2000, and various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
The petition, which was filed through advocate Lalit Valecha, added that Google and Apple were “important social media intermediaries” and had grossly failed in their due diligence obligations under the IT Rules 2021.
“They not only host these apps but actively promote them, thereby becoming constructively complicit in illegal activities and exposing a large and vulnerable section of the Indian population, especially youth and adolescents, to morally and psychologically harmful content,” the petition said.
The matter is scheduled to be heard on July 17.
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