High Court Asks Delhi Police To Prepare Handbook For IOs To Timely Obtain Info Requested From Social Media Platforms

The Delhi High Court has recently asked the Commissioner of Delhi Police to take steps to prepare a handbook that may be utilised by the Investigating Officers (IOs) for timely furnishing of information requested by them from social media platforms.

A division bench comprising Justice Prathiba M Singh and Justice Amit Sharma noted that in a large number of cases, IOs may not be fully aware of the manner in which information requested can be obtained from the various platforms and sometimes precious time is lost.

“Accordingly, insofar as the Delhi Police is concerned, the matter may be escalated to the Commissioner of Police at the Delhi Police Headquarters (PHQ) for coordinating with the platforms and for taking steps towards preparation of a handbook that may be utilised and disseminated to all police stations, who may need urgent information from these platforms,” the Court said.

It added that the handbook can include the details of the manner in which requests have to be made to social media platforms and the details of their Nodal Officers.

“In case any training is required, the Commissioner of Police may also call for meeting with the platforms and hold training sessions for Police Officials, so that, in serious cases there is proper cooperation, collaboration and timely furnishing of information by the platforms to avert the commission of crime or to obtain information which may be required during the course of any investigation,” the bench said.

The Court was dealing with a habeas corpus plea filed by a mother seeking direction on the Delhi Police to produce her 19 year old son who has been missing since January 10. The Delhi Police had written to Meta Platforms on September 06 regarding some information relating to an Instagram account of the missing boy.

During the recent hearing, Meta informed Court that it has established a Law Enforcement Online Request System (LEORS) which is a platform used by Law Enforcement Agencies to put in their request for data disclosure.

It was also submitted that in case of emergency requests, responses have been given by Meta in a matter of minutes in case of missing children etc.

Reiterating a similar stand, WhatsApp said that there are instances when information relating to terrorist activities have been disclosed by it within 12

minutes of receiving the request and that it provides the Basic Subscriber Information available with it, though it does not have information relating to the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) of devices.

Google told Court that it has created a dedicated platform for the Indian Government even for content removal.

Furthermore, Reddit told Court that in case of emergency involving imminent death or serious bodily harm or other emergencies, there are separate processes put in place for seeking information by Law Enforcement Agencies.

The Court noted that none of the platforms in question disputed that complete cooperation would have to be rendered to Law Enforcement Agencies whenever information is sought, especially when it relates to serious crimes.

“The Platforms express their clear intent to work with the agencies for the purpose of training and preparation of any material that may enable all the features on their platform to be utilised to the fullest possible extent,” the Bench noted.

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs told Court that it was holding detailed stakeholders' consultation to compile its current position and the manner in which it would like to coordinate with social media platforms for dealing with requests from Law Enforcement Agencies, Police and other investigation agencies from across the country.

The bench directed the MHA to file its status report in the matter and listed the case for hearing next on December 11.

Earlier, the Bench had directed social media platforms like Google, Meta, WhatsApp etc to produce their SOPs on dealing with information requests of the law enforcement agencies.

Title: SHABANA v. GOVT OF NCT OF DELHI AND ORS.

Click here to read order