Centre, Google, FB, WhatsApp agree to stamp out rape, child porn videos: Supreme Court
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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No more street vending on B’luru’s main roads, as govt plans to bring new policy for street hawkers
Bengaluru: Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Friday said that the state government has decided to formulate a new policy for footpaths in Bengaluru, under which street vending will not be allowed on main roads and sub-main roads.
Addressing the media after a budget preparation meeting and executive meeting of GBA corporations at Vidhana Soudha, Shivakumar said discussions were held with MLAs from the GBA region regarding the corporations’ budgets and key civic issues.
Leader of Opposition R. Ashok also participated in the meeting and shared his views. Officials from multiple departments, including police, BESCOM, BMRCL, BWSSB and BDA, along with ministers and legislators, were present.
He stated that all five municipalities have prepared their individual budgets, while MLAs have submitted their demands, including calls for ward-wise grants.
“We have decided to bring a new policy for footpaths. Citizens are struggling to walk as footpaths are encroached upon by street vendors,” Shivakumar said.
Highlighting the need to balance livelihoods and public convenience, he added that “a separate space will be provided for street vendors, and specific roads will be designated for their business,” ensuring that pedestrians can use footpaths without obstruction. He noted that there was unanimous agreement among MLAs on this approach.
Issuing a warning to vendors, Shivakumar said that authorities will act against those violating the rules. “If vendors operate during the day and leave their carts on the roadside at night, authorities will clear them. People should be aware of this,” he said.
Providing data on street vendors, he said that around 60,000 vendors have registered so far, of which 30,000 have applied for vehicles, and a tender has already been floated.
“Only those with street vendor identity cards will be allowed to do business. Those without ID cards will not be permitted to operate on the streets,” he added.
