Facebook, Google blocking search words linked to child porn

BENGALURU: Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo! have started blocking hundreds of keywords related to child pornography and sexual violence on their platforms in India in an attempt to control the circulation of such videos, photographs and content after the Supreme Court pulled up the global internet companies.

The keyword block is based on recommendations submitted by the ministry of electronics & information technology and the ministry of home affairs. A search for these keywords now won’t return the desired result or will display a warning that such content is against the law and the platform’s policy.

“The internet companies have implemented the search word ban, but it is still not completely effective. Some words work, some don’t. We have tested 100 keywords on these platforms,” said Aparna Bhat, a lawyer representing Prajwala, a Hyderabad-based nonprofit organisation in a public interest litigation in the Supreme Court.


Prajwala had filed the petition in the SC, asking it to direct search engines and social media platforms not to allow porn to be uploaded. WhatsApp said it, too, is taking steps to curb the spread of child pornography, based on user complaints. The keywords to be blocked by search engines haven’t been made public to make it harder for perpetrators to figure out a workaround.

Keywords Mostly in English
The keywords are mainly in English, although words from Hindi and other languages are included. Asearch for ‘child porn’ on Google now throws up a warning that states child abuse is illegal and creating, possessing and viewing child pornography content is prohibited by law.

A keyword search for rape videos displays a warning that publishing and distributing imagery and videos of incidents of rape and gang rape are offences in India. “It’s an ongoing process,” said a person who works with an internet company. “While we cannot stop people from uploading videos at source, keyword blocking helps videos and photos from going viral. Keywords suggested varied from company to company.”

The internet giants recently filed an affidavit in the apex court apprising it of the progress in implementing the directive. The step was taken after SC censured the companies in May for delaying the implementation and fined each of them Rs 1 lakh.

The step was suggested by a committee formed by SC following the petition filed by Prajwala in 2015, which had requested the court to direct search engines and social networking sites not to allow such videos to be uploaded on their platforms. The internet companies said they did not have the technology to do that yet. The committee included representatives from the government, the tech companies and Prajwala.

Google said it has implemented a warning message for specific keywords on its India search engine and, when required, displays a government website address for submission of complaints and a helpline number for victims of child abuse.

Google has a zero-tolerance approach to child sexual abuse content and has systems in place to disable such reported content, a company spokesperson said in an email. Facebook, Yahoo! and Microsoft did not reply to a questionnaire. WhatsApp, which is a party to the PIL but isn’t a search engine or social media platform, said it is taking measures to halt the circulation of child pornography.

“Child pornography is vile and it has no place on WhatsApp. 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. We also respond to valid legal requests from law enforcement in India investigating these types of crimes,” a WhatsApp spokesperson said in a statement.