Madras HC directs MeitY to take down woman advocate’s private images, videos from internet within 48 hours

The Madras High Court has directed the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to take necessary steps to detect, remove, and block private images and videos of a woman advocate, recorded by her male partner without her consent and circulated widely on the internet and digital platforms.

On July 9, 2025, Justice N. Anand Venkatesh ordered that his direction must be implemented by the Centre within 48 hours.

He said, the woman was undergoing great mental agony because the non-consensual images and videos were getting uploaded, shared, re-uploaded, and transmitted not only through pornographic websites but also private messaging applications and social media pages.

The woman lawyer had approached the court stating that her former partner had captured photos and videos of the couple’s intimacy without her permission. She learned that these photos and videos were circulating on social media and subsequently filed a police complaint.

In her affidavit, the petitioner stated that she fell in love with a man during her college days and spent private moments with him after he promised to marry her. However, she was unaware at the time that he had recorded their intimate moments on his mobile phone without her knowledge. It was only after the images and videos went viral that she lodged a police complaint against him and a WhatsApp group administrator on April 1.

When the police failed to take action, she moved the court, according to a report by LiveLaw.

She also made a representation to MeitY on June 18, urging the Ministry to issue instructions to all intermediaries, websites, pornographic platforms, and telecommunication service providers to take down the objectionable images and videos by employing hash matching technology and AI-based content recognition tools.

Senior counsel Abudu Kumar Rajarathinam said, MeitY had failed to act upon the petitioner’s representation, forcing her to file the present writ petition.