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12. Respondent no.2 (Facebook Inc.) has filed an affidavit, inter alia, affirming that it has implemented a number of measures to combat the spread of child porn (CP) including working with National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) which is a non- profit organization involved in helping to find missing children, reduce child sexual exploitation and prevent child victimization. NCMEC has created Cyber Tipline, providing an online mechanism to receive reports of suspected CP content on the internet. It is affirmed that once Facebook identifies a child porn (CP) image on its platforms, it immediately removes the same. The contents of the relevant account are preserved for ninety days pursuant to the applicable law, and the facts and circumstances associated with the same are reported to NCMEC. It is further affirmed that Facebook has also adopted a policy that prohibits any CP content on its platforms and the said policy is widely disseminated. In addition to disseminating its policies, there are other measures prevent CP content on the Facebook and Instagram Services and the same include (i) an option for anyone to report the said content, (ii) use of Photo DNA to identify any known or apparent CP image, and (iii) active identification of key words related to CP content.
16. The Government of India (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology) has also filed an affidavit referring to various legislative provisions enacted to address the issue of pornographic content on the net. Section 67B of the IT Act prescribes the punishment to be imposed for committing an offence for publishing or transmitting material depicting children in obscene, indecent or in a sexually explicit manner.
17. Mr Ahluwalia, learned counsel appearing for Government of India submitted that National Crime Records Bureau (hereafter NCRB) acts as a nodal agency for technical and operational functions of On-Line Cyber Reporting Portal: "www.cybercrime.gov.in." The incidents reported on the portal are shared with the law enforcement agencies. NCRB has also entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NCMEC to receive Cyber Tipline reports relating to suspected CP content.
26. This Court is also informed that National Crime Report Bureau (NCRB) has also entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with NCMEC to report all offending CP content in order that the same can be removed from all other platforms as well.
27. In the circumstances, this Court directs the concerned police agencies to forward offending material relating to the petitioner, which undeniably falls within the scope of sexual explicit material relating to a child, to the NCRB. The NCRB shall also use the protocols available in terms of the Memorandum of Understanding entered into with NCMEC or otherwise to notify the offending material in order that the same can be actioned and removed from other platforms as well.