# India must break organised chain of online child sexual abuse, says expert 2026-08-20T05:16:53+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet India's fight against online child sexual exploitative and abusive material must target the entire organised chain, from recruiters to platforms to consumers, and not just remove illegal content, according to an opinion piece authored by Dr B Keerthi. The Supreme Court in 2024 ruled that downloading or viewing such material is a criminal offence and that platforms like Meta cannot claim safe harbour if they fail legal obligations. A recent investigation found paid advertisements promoting child sexual abuse material on Instagram, which the platform initially ruled did not violate its guidelines. The government ordered Meta to remove such ads. With India having the world's largest Instagram user base of over 413 million, the piece warns that recommendation algorithms create dangerous feedback loops that amplify demand, while law enforcement remains ill-equipped to dismantle the criminal networks involved. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The Supreme Court's 2024 ruling in Just Rights for Children Alliance v. S. Harish removed safe harbour for platforms hosting child sexual abuse material, but enforcement remains weak. India's 413 million Instagram users, the largest base globally, create a massive surface area for algorithmic amplification. The real test is whether the government's order to Meta will be followed by prosecution of intermediaries under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, which mandates reporting of such content. Watch for the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology's next compliance notice and any Criminal Procedure Code FIRs against platform executives, which would signal a shift from takedowns to criminal accountability. ## Coverage - telanganatoday.com Leads with a government response as prompt action, frames the issue through official and Supreme Court positions without criticism of government delays This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Dr B Keerthi, Instagram, Meta, POCSO Act, Supreme Court of India Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/india-must-break-organised-chain-of-online-child-sexual-abuse-says-expert/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/india-must-break-organised-chain-of-online-child-sexual-abuse-says-expert/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/