Heena Sharma Blog

A Rajya Sabha panel has recommended that law enforcement agencies should be permitted to break end-to-end encryption to trace the distributior of child pornography on social media. The ad hoc committee of the Rajya Sabha formed to look into pornography on social media and its effect on children and society has also recommended that apps that help in monitoring children's access to pornographic content be made mandatory on all devices sold in India, and such apps or similar solutions be developed and made freely available to internet service providers (ISPs), schools and parents. The 14-member committee, chaired by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, has made 40 recommendations in all, including changes to the Protection of Children From Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. The recommendations assume significance in view of the ongoing battle between the government and WhatsApp over encryption. The government has been looking for a way to trace messages to curb spread of rumours

WhatsApp on Friday said child pornography has absolutely no place on the messaging platform and that it takes action against the dissemination of such content, including banning of accounts, based on user reports. Terming child pornography as " vile ", WhatsApp said it also responds to valid legal requests from law enforcement to investigate these types of crimes. "While we cannot see the messages that people share with one another, we can and do take action based on user reports including banning accounts," WhatsApp spokesperson said in a statement adding that child pornography has no place on the messaging platform. The comments came as 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 "diffe