“Our children are at stake,” the Solicitor General told the Supreme Court after it urged the Centre to take the child sexual abuse material issue very seriously at the hearing fixed after it had granted the Union one last opportunity to report.
New Delhi: The Union Government must take the problem of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) online “very seriously”, the Supreme Court said on Thursday while hearing a plea by the NGO Just Rights for Children Alliance over alleged lapses by social media platforms in detecting and reporting such content. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta responded, “Our children are at stake” [Just Rights for Children Alliance v. S. Harish and Others].
The hearing was on October 15, 2026, the date fixed at the previous hearing. The available account does not say who sat on the Bench today; at the earlier hearing the application was before Justices J B Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran. Any directions issued today are awaited, and the next date is not yet known.
Where the application comes from
The application arises from the Supreme Court’s judgment of September 23, 2024 in Crl. Appeal Nos. 2161-2162 of 2024, which dealt with child sexual abuse material. Just Rights for Children Alliance and Bachpan Bachao Andolan moved it after a media report alleged that Instagram carried paid advertisements promoting child sexual exploitation and abuse material. On August 14, 2026, the Court issued notice and asked the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the Ministry of Law and Justice to file their counter or report.
September 24, and one last opportunity
Seeking time on September 24, 2026, Additional Solicitor General K M Nataraj said the Government was preparing a reply. The Bench observed that nothing had been filed a month after its order, called the matter “extremely serious”, and gave the Union “one last opportunity” to explain the steps taken to give effect to the 2024 judgment and the precautions it would take against lapses by social media intermediaries.
What the application asks for
The reliefs it seeks include a uniform SOP for intermediaries on detecting and reporting such material, preservation of evidence, uploading of offender details to the National Database of Sexual Offenders, criminal proceedings against non-compliant intermediaries and a central online reporting portal.
Why the hearing matters
The 2024 judgment placed obligations on intermediaries and the State to detect, report and remove child sexual abuse material, and this application tests whether those obligations are being met in practice. By pressing repeatedly for a government response, the Court has shown that it will not leave the question of compliance open-ended. The matter concerns online platforms and government ministries; no finding has been made against any platform on the allegations raised in the application.
Case Title: Just Rights for Children Alliance and Another v. S. Harish and Others [Diary No. 41028 of 2026]
Bench: Supreme Court of India (bench for October 15 not stated; earlier heard by Justices J B Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran)
Date of Hearing: October 15, 2026
Appearances: Solicitor General Tushar Mehta for the Union
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