Delhi Police books Twitter under POCSO

The Delhi Police on Tuesday booked Twitter over alleged sharing of child pornography over the platform, based on a complaint filed by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) that had recently alleged the platform has failed to check the easy availability of child pornography.

The child rights body had on May 29 asked the Delhi Police to book Twitter India under three sections of the POCSO Act, after claiming that it had conducted an inquiry and had found child sexual abuse material on the platform.

NCPCR chairperson Priyanka Kanoongo said Twitter allowed sharing of WhatsApp links which showed child porn. The body had written two letters — one to Delhi Police’s cyber cell and another to the commissioner.


It had asked the Delhi Police to submit an action taken report within seven days. After repeated reminders, the body had asked Delhi Police officers to appear via video conferencing on June 29.

A Twitter spokesperson said the platform has a zero tolerance policy with regard to child sexual exploitation and a proactive approach in combating sexual exploitation of minors.

Twitter said it uses PhotoDNA technology and it own proprietary tools, besides other systems, to detect behavioural signals and removes media and even new accounts linked to such content before they have even sent out their first tweet.