Supreme Court Seeks Centre's Response To PIL Against Police Revealing Accused Identities Online

The Supreme Court has issued notice today to Centre, all states and Union Territories, as well as social media platforms Meta and X, on a PIL seeking to stop police organisations from posting content online that reveals the identities of accused persons or shows them in a dehumanising manner.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant and comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana heard submissions by senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, who appeared for petitioner Hemendra Patel, and issued notices to the Union government, states and the two social media companies.

The plea seeks directions to states to immediately remove posts from police social media accounts that reveal the faces or identities of accused persons or show them being treated in a dehumanising manner.

The plea also seeks framing of appropriate guidelines regulating the use of social media platforms by their respective police organisations, particularly to prevent the upload of any such content which reveals the faces/ identities of accused persons and/or depicts them in a dehumanising manner.

The PIL has referred to images and videos in which accused persons were allegedly shown handcuffed, tied with ropes, beaten with sticks, made to kneel, or dragged and pulled down stairs.

It thus seeks framing of clear guidelines for police organisations on the use of social media and prevent such content from being published in the future.

The plea also seeks directions to Meta Platforms Inc and X Corp to create policies and user guidelines for their platforms, including Facebook and Instagram so as to prevent content from being posted that reveals the identities of accused persons or shows them being subjected to inhuman, derogatory or dehumanising treatment.

A direction is thus sought to frame appropriate policies and user guidelines for its social media platforms i.e. Instagram and Facebook to ensure that no content is posted on their platforms which reveals the identities of persons accused of an offence and/or depicts accused persons being subjected to inhuman/ derogatory/ dehumanising treatment, and where such content has already been posted, to install a formal, transparent and structured mechanism for the prompt taking down of such content upon user reporting.

Case Title: HEMENDRA PATEL Vs UNION OF INDIA

Bench: CJI Kant, Justice Bagchi and Justice Mohana

Hearing Date: August 18, 2026