Madras High Court: The present writ petition was filed by the petitioners seeking urgent intervention against the alleged circulation of child pornographic content in the teaser of a Tamil movie titled “Bad Girl”, hosted on YouTube. The petitioners sought directions to the Union of India to ensure removal of such content and initiate appropriate legal action. A Single Judge Bench of P. Dhanabal, J., allowed the petition, holding that child protection is a constitutional mandate under Articles 39(f) and 45 of the Constitution, and directed the competent authority to issue notice and take appropriate action to remove the obscene contents and the videos. The Court emphasised that it was the duty of the State to protect the children in all respect and such content could not be allowed to continue.
Background:
The third petitioner, a legal professional and father of school-going children, viewed the teaser of a Tamil Movie Bad Girl on YouTube on 1-2-2025 and found it contained child pornographic elements depicting school students in sexual manner. Distressed by the public accessibility and dissemination of such sexual exploitation and abuse material, he filed online complaints with multiple statutory authorities including National Cyber Crime Portal, Tamil Nadu Police, National Commission for Women. However, despite the severity of the allegations and the continuing availability of the illegal content which constituted a continuing offence in derogation with various statutory provisions including the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (the ‘POCSO Act’) and the Information Technology Act, 2000, no action was taken by the authorities, which was violative of the fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.
The petitioners contended that such obscene content, possessed a real threat affecting the minds of the teenage children since anybody could easily access the channel and it would spoil the minds of the children. They sought directions from the Union of India to take action against Google India (P) Ltd. for hosting and failing to remove such content, and to initiate criminal proceedings under the POCSO Act, Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH Act) and other criminal laws in respect of child pornography, child sexual exploitation and abuse material.
The respondents contended that no proper complaints had been received.Google India (P) Ltd. particularly alleged that it had no role and that YouTube was not impleaded as party.
Analysis and Decision:
The Court after examining the materials available on record, noted that the teaser of the Tamil movie Bad Girl contained child pornography and the content disclosed exploitation of children (school students shown), depicted them in a sexual manner, constituting a violation of Indian laws protecting children from sexual offenses and against wellbeing of the children in particular and society at large. The Court observed that the pictures hosted on YouTube could be accessed by anybody and there was no restriction to the children to access and to see the said pictures and if the children see the said contents of the videos, certainly it would spoil the mind of the children.
The Court emphasised that it was the duty of the State to protect the children in all respects, and moreover, it was the social responsibility of every citizen to protect the children, and it was without such social responsibility, the said obscene pictures had been uploaded on social media. The Court therefore concluded that such content could not be allowed to continue, since it will be visible to children, the number of victims would be increased. Therefore, it has to be removed immediately.
The Court referred to Article 39(f) of the Constitution, which mandated the State to direct its policy towards securing that children were given opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity, and that childhood and youth were protected against exploitation and against moral and material abandonment. The Court also highlighted that, as per Article 45 of the Constitution, the State was required to endeavour to provide early childhood care and education for all children until they completed the age of six years.
The Court emphasised that the State must ensure the protection against exploitation and to provide childhood care, and therefore the said words ‘protection’ and ‘care’ must be given widest meaning. The Court further pointed out the inaction of the authorities concerned despite complaints having been lodged, and observed that immediately after the filing of this petition and upon gaining knowledge of the facts, the respondents ought to have taken steps without waiting for orders from the Court, however, they failed to take any action.
The Court while allowing the petition directed the competent authority, i.e. Union of India to take appropriate action to remove the obscene contents and videos of the movie “Bad Girl” hosted in the YouTube either at the linked address or any other address within one month from the date of the present order. Accordingly, the Court, considering the serious nature of the issue, held that it need not wait for the impleadment of YouTube as a party, since the first respondent was a competent authority who could issue notice to YouTube and take appropriate action to remove the obscene contents and videos.
The Court further ordered the National Commission for Protection of Child Right and National Commission for Women to look into the matter, monitor and take appropriate steps in accordance with law to prevent any type of child pornography. Further, the Court concluded that, regarding criminal action, no necessary particulars were provided, the proposed accused had to be identified, and it was for the petitioners to approach appropriate authorities by following procedures in accordance with law.
[R. Ramkumar v. Union of India, Writ Petition (MD) No. 5562 of 2025, decided on 18-7-2025]
Advocates who appeared in this case:
For the Petitioners: Anandhapadmanabhan and B.Lenin Balu for Agam Legal.
For the Respondents: K.Govindarajan (Deputy Solicitor General), M.Sakthi Kumar (Additional Public Prosecutor), G.Manoj Kumar.
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