Centre to Form Expert Panel to Combat NCII Content and Cyberattacks on Women

Centre to Form Expert Panel to Combat NCII Content and Cyberattacks on Women

In a significant move towards combating online violence against women, the Union Government has informed the Madras High Court that it will constitute an expert committee to draft a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to tackle cyberattacks and non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII) shared online.

The development came during the hearing of a petition filed by a woman advocate, who sought directions to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to remove NCII content uploaded by her former friend and to block websites hosting such videos.

Proposed Expert Committee

Senior panel counsel A Kumaraguru, appearing for MeitY, submitted that a multi-ministerial committee will be set up, comprising officials from:

• MeitY (Chair)

• Department of Telecommunications (DoT)

• Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)

• Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoWCD)

The committee will be chaired by a Joint Secretary of MeitY and is tasked with drafting a comprehensive SOP to address the dissemination of NCII content. The SOP will include:

• Legal and technical mechanisms for rapid takedown

• Guidelines for victims on immediate actions

• Long-term policy and enforcement recommendations

Content Keeps Reappearing, Says Court

During the hearing, Senior Counsel Abudu Kumar Rajaratnam, representing the petitioner, informed the court that 13 additional links to the explicit videos had resurfaced.

Justice N Anand Venkatesh, hearing the case, remarked on the repeated reappearance of the content, likening it to “Ravana’s head — cut off but reappearing”. He urged MeitY to explore more robust responses, referencing Operation Sindoor, where websites were blocked for hosting harmful content.

Why This Matters

This move by the Centre marks a crucial step towards addressing gendered cybercrime, especially in cases involving revenge porn, image-based abuse, and deepfakes. The lack of clear, actionable guidelines has long hampered victims' ability to seek justice or timely intervention.

The proposed SOP could potentially:

• Streamline takedown processes

• Strengthen coordination between ministries

• Provide a victim-centric approach

• Empower women to take legal recourse

Conclusion

As technology evolves, so do the methods of exploitation. By proactively setting up a panel to draft a dedicated SOP for NCII and cyberattacks, the Indian government acknowledges the urgent need for policy reform and digital safety for women. The Madras High Court's direction adds judicial weight to this long-overdue conversation.