WhatsApp to help block rape videos, child porn
Satya Prakash
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, April 14
WhatsApp Inc has told the Supreme Court that it is ready to cooperate with the court-appointed high-power committee mandated to find a technical solution to block rape videos and other sexually offensive clips on social networking sites.
The SC had on April 11 issued notice to WhatsApp Inc seeking its response. It had asked the firm to make a presentation, if possible through video conferencing, to assist the panel. The firm told a Bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur that its officials would meet the committee set up by the court to explore ways and means to block such offensive videos.
“We will also be part and parcel of the whole initiative. They (WhatsApp) are sending their people to sit with the committee and explain everything, senior advocate Kapil Sibal told the Bench on behalf of the company on Thursday. The meeting is likely to be held on April 27.
The SC had on March 22 constituted a high-power panel comprising senior government officials and representatives from social networking sites to explore technological solutions to rape videos and child pornographic material getting uploaded and circulated on social networking sites.
Headed by Dr Ajay Kumar, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the committee will have Dr Sanjay Behl of Indian Computer Emergency Response Team, Rakesh Maheshwari, a cyber law and security expert with the government, two representatives of the Ministry of Home Affairs and two representatives each from Microsoft, Google, Facebook and Yahoo.
The Bench had given 15 days to the committee beginning April 5 to meet, deliberate and suggest solutions to the problem. The Bench said if the committee came to the conclusion that there was no technological solution available to the problem, it should give reasons and explain why it was not possible to block uploading and circulating videos of rape, gang rape and child pornography. It ordered the committee to submit its report in a sealed cover on the next date of hearing.
The court is seized of a PIL filed by Prajwala, an NGO, highlighting instances of uploading of gang-rape videos on Yahoo and WhatsApp messenger services. In February 2015, it had taken suo motu cognisance of a letter written by the NGO and converted it into a PIL. The NGO had also sent two gang-rape videos with its letter for appropriate action.
Earlier, CBI cyber security experts had told the Bench that the Internet was a “wild highway” and blocking objectionable content at the source was a technical challenge for which clear guidelines needed to be issued to stop circulation of such material.
