16/07/2025
🚨 CHILDREN EXPOSED ONLINE — HIGH COURT ORDERS META TO SHUT DOWN EXPLICIT ACCOUNTS. META FAILS TO ACT. 🚨
Late Monday evening, the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg issued an urgent court order compelling Meta (the parent company of Instagram and WhatsApp) to shut down several anonymous accounts and channels that were distributing graphic child po*******hy involving South African school children — some as young as primary school age.
The court also ordered Meta to hand over the details of the perpetrators behind these platforms by Tuesday at noon — but by early Tuesday afternoon, Meta had not complied with any of the deadlines.
📌 The accounts were not just sharing illegal explicit content, but also publishing:
• Children’s names, grades, and schools
• Cruel and false claims about their s*xual behaviour
• Even claims about their HIV status
This horrifying situation came to light when The Digital Law Company (DLC), led by social media law expert Emma Sadleir Berkowitz, received reports from victims and schools in Pretoria and Centurion about disturbing content being shared on Instagram and WhatsApp “community channels”.
🧑⚖️ In her affidavit, Sadleir described the accounts as:
“A mass distribution system for pornographic and defamatory content involving minors… shared anonymously with large, unknown audiences.”
🚨 One WhatsApp channel had over 11,000 followers and was actively threatening to publish more explicit material and private information about children at 8PM Monday.
With no time to spare, DLC went to court on an urgent basis — the matter was unopposed, and the court ruled decisively in their favour.
Yet, Meta has still not removed the channels or shared the identities of the criminals behind them.
🔴 According to Sadleir, girls depicted in these images are now on su***de watch.
The longer the content remains online, the more irreparable harm is done.
📢 Why this matters:
• These children are being traumatised, humiliated, and endangered
• The content is being shared rapidly, with new accounts popping up after deletions
• Legal action can only proceed if the perpetrator is identified — and that depends on Meta’s cooperation
This is not just about platform policy — it’s about criminal accountability and child protection
✅ What you can do:
• Follow for updates and resources
• Report any harmful content to SAPS Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) units
• Speak to children about digital safety and reporting online abuse
• Demand accountability from big tech when it comes to protecting vulnerable users
📣 Children’s lives and mental health are at stake. Justice delayed is justice denied.
Link: https://iol.co.za/news/crime-and-courts/2025-07-15-gauteng-high-court-orders-meta-to-shut-down-child-pornographic-accounts-on-instagram-and-whatsapp/
