Delhi High Court demands a guide for social media companies on how to share information with law enforcement
According to the Division Bench of Justices, Prathiba M. Singh and Amit Sharma, police officials might not completely understand how to submit such information requests, even though these social media companies were prepared to provide information to law enforcement agencies as needed.
Investigation Officers (IOs) frequently lose valuable time because they are unaware of how information can be gathered from the different platforms. Since the Delhi Police may require urgent information from these platforms, the Court stated that the matter may be forwarded to the Commissioner of Police at the Delhi Police Headquarters (PHQ) for coordination with the platforms and for the creation of a handbook that could be used and distributed to all police stations.
The Court further stated that the proposed handbook could include information about the nodal officials designated by social media sites and the process for submitting requests.
In order to ensure proper cooperation, collaboration, and timely furnishing of information by the platforms in serious cases to prevent the commission of crime or to obtain information that may be required during any investigation, the Court further noted that “if any training is required, the Commissioner of Police may also call for a meeting with the platforms and hold training sessions for Police Officials.”
The order was issued by the Court in response to a habeas corpus writ suit that the parents of a missing youngster had submitted.
The Delhi Police had previously stated that, following a tip, they had written to Meta to request details on the missing youngster, including his phone number, location/IP address, Instagram account, and the IMEI of the device he was using. The Court was informed, however, that Meta did not provide the information.
As a result, the Court had notified Meta and asked for its help. At the time, the Court also noted that, in emergency situations like missing person investigations or cases involving fictitious bomb threats, there is frequently a delay between the police’s request for information and the information they receive from social media platforms.
To close this disparity, the Court ordered all significant social media companies to provide information about their standard operating procedure (SOP) for responding to law enforcement authorities’ requests for information.
Google, Meta, WhatsApp, Telegram, and Reddit responded by recording their standard operating procedures (SOPs) for handling such requests and the turnaround times for typically provided information.
In the ruling dated November 13, the court noted the different processes implemented by these organizations, such as the appointment of nodal officers and the type of information provided to the police upon request.
As of right now, the Court noted, “the majority of platforms are in agreement that when Law Enforcement Agencies make emergency requests, the 72-hour deadline specified in Rule 3(1)(j) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, is simply addressed as a maximum time and in the majority of cases, the same are dealt with and information is provided as quickly as possible.”
The Court was also told that, despite the State’s attempts, the missing boy has not yet been located. The Court has responded by giving the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) control of the investigation.
The next hearing on the case is scheduled for December 11.
The petitioner was represented by advocates Fozia Rahman, Sikander A. Siddiqui, Aafreen, and Kartikay Dixit.
Advocate Priyam Aggarwal and Standing Counsel Sanjay Lao represented the Delhi administration.
Meta was represented by Advocates Tejas Karia, Varun Pathak, Amee Rana, Dhruv Bhatnagar, Prasidhi Agrawal, Tanuj Sharma, and Senior Advocate Arvind Datar.
Advocates Swati Agarwal, Shashank Mishra, Akshi Rastogi, and Shivika Mattoo joined Senior Advocates Kapil Sibal and Vivek Reddy for WhatsApp.
Raj Shekhar Rao, Senior Advocate, made an appearance on Telegram.
Reddit featured appearances by advocates Brijesh Ujjainwal, Sreeja Sengupta, and Alipak Banerjee.
Anant Vijay Singh and Naveen Kumar Raheja, both advocates, attended the DUISB.
