New Delhi, Dec 6: The Supreme Court Thursday said the Centre and Internet giants, including Google, Microsoft and Facebook, were in agreement that videos of rape, child pornography and objectionable material needed to be "stamped out".
A bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and U U Lalit noted that intermediaries have "different reactions" to suggestions given earlier by the Centre, which included setting up pro-active monitoring tools for auto deletion of unlawful content by deploying artificial intelligence based tools.
"Insofar as the suggestions given by the Union of India as mentioned in the order dated November 28, 2018 are concerned, it appears that each of the different entities have a different reaction to them. Google and YouTube have one reaction. Facebook, Microsoft and WhatsApp each have different reactions," the bench said in its order.
It said each of these entities would give a proposed or draft standard operating procedure (SoP) for the purpose of implementation of the suggestions given by the Centre.
"Everybody is agreed that the child pornography, rape and gang rape videos and objectionable material need to be stamped out. The proposed/draft SoP will be drafted on this premise," the bench said.
It directed that the draft SoP be filed in the apex court on December 10 and its copies be served to the counsel appearing for the Centre, petitioner and the lawyer assisting it as an amicus curiae.
During the hearing, senior counsel Kapil Sibal, appearing for WhatsApp, told the bench that they have an end-to-end encryption technology due to which it would not be possible to remove the content.
The Centre had last month suggested to the court that the intermediaries should deploy trusted flaggers for identifying and deletion of unlawful content and also set up of 24X7 mechanism for dealing with requisitions of law enforcement agencies.
It had also suggested that there should be prompt disposal of requisitions of law enforcement agencies to remove unlawful contents.
The court was hearing a matter following a letter sent in 2015 to then Chief Justice of India H L Dattu by Hyderabad-based NGO Prajwala, along with two rape videos in a pen-drive.
The court had on its own taken cognisance of the letter and asked the CBI to launch a probe to apprehend the culprits.
The NGO's letter had also mooted the idea of maintaining a national sex offenders' register which should contain details of persons convicted for offences like eve-teasing, stalking, molestation and other sexual assaults.
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Bengaluru: The airport police have reportedly arrested and booked a 23-year-old YouTuber for allegedly breaching airport security under the pretext of traveling from Bengaluru to Chennai.
The arrested YouTuber has been identified as Bengaluru-based Vikas Gowda. Gowda, in a video uploaded on the video-sharing platform on April 12, mocked the security personnel of the airport.
Despite restrictions to enter a sensitive area like the airport, Gowda shot the video at the Terminal-2 of the airport on April 7. Stringent legal action will be taken against the accused, said DCP Lakshmi Prasad of North East Division.
Vikas Gowda, who has 1.3 lakh followers on his YouTube channel, has been performing several stunts to attract more views on his videos. Gowda has reportedly posted around 60 videos on his YouTube channel. DCP Lakshmi Prasad further stated that Vikas Gowda's phone has been seized.
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Accused Vikas Gowda falsely claimed to be a genuine air traveler by booking a very cheap flight ticket from Bengaluru to Chennai. After completing the security check on April 7, he did not proceed to the boarding gate.
He had a hidden recording device with him, through which he started filming scenes in restricted areas by entering illegally. DCP Lakshmi Prasad has informed that the accused has been arrested, and further investigations are ongoing regarding the incident.