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Content included a grade 12 boy having sex with a grade 9 girl in a school bathroom apparently filmed by another pupil.
Meta’s Instagram and WhatsApp are in hot water. Picture: iStock
The Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg has ordered tech giant Meta to shut down certain anonymous Instagram accounts and WhatsApp Channels distributing explicit child pornography involving South African schoolchildren.
Judge Mudunwazi Makamu handed down the judgment in order sought by Digital Law Company, directed by social media law expert Emma Sadlier, on Monday.
In the ruling, Makamu agreed with the arguments by advocate Ben Winks that children have been victimised by the publication of lurid material.
Shutdown
Makamu ordered Meta to shut down all the accounts and channels linked to the distribution of sexual content involving schoolchildren and to “permanently disable the creator of the WhatsApp channels and Instagram profiles listed… from creating any further WhatsApp channels and Instagram profiles”.
Meta has been ordered to furnish Digital Law Company “all information” in its possession of the creators.
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“The respondents shall, before 12h00 on 15 July 2025, furnish to the applicant all information in the first respondent’s possession pertaining to the creator(s) of the WhatsApp channels and Instagram profiles.”
Ruling
Sadlier welcomed the ruling.
“Tonight the Digital Law Company obtained a High Court order against Meta to shut down certain anonymous Instagram accounts and WhatsApp Channels distributing child pornography and degrading and humiliating content concerning children – and to hand over all identifying information.
“We count our lucky stars to be able to work with such extraordinary legal minds who understand how important it is to protect our children in this damn crazy world,” Sadlier said.
Sadlier told The Citizen the signed order will be sent to the registrar on Tuesday morning.
Porn material
In court papers, Sadlier said the pornographic material of children was sourced from the community by sharing links to an anonymous uploading service titled “NGL” (Not Gonna Lie).
Sadlier added that the creator and operator of the Instagram profiles and WhatsApp channels sharing porn content of these schoolchildren “appears to be the same person using many similar aliases”.
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She said the person uploaded whatever intimate content they received onto the Instagram pages and WhatsApp channels.
“It goes without saying that the uploading and distribution of this content is a crime, a flagrant disregard of the law and an egregious violation of constitutional rights, including, among others, the rights to dignity, privacy, the best interests of a child and the right to psychological integrity.”
School children
According to Sadlier, the content on the channel included several explicit images and videos, including that of a grade 11 pupil from a school south of Johannesburg having sex with a girl in a room, while another video shows a grade 12 boy having sex with a grade 9 girl in a school bathroom, apparently filmed by another pupil.
“From time to time, it appears that Meta administrators will delete or block some of the pages and channels (presumably in response to user complaints). However, not long after, the same page or channel will be active again, or another channel will crop up replicating the previous channel – and the distribution of illegal content continues unabated,” Sadlier said.
The Citizen has contacted Meta for a response. This will be included in the story once received.
Urgent legal action
On Monday, the Digital Law Company launched urgent legal action to compel Meta to stop an anonymous WhatsApp and Instagram user from further publishing private and pornographic material involving South African schoolchildren.
The company’s attorney, Rupert Candy, in a letter of demand to Meta, said the need for the urgency was that the live WhatsApp channel, which has over 11 000 followers (mostly children), issued a threat to publish “everything” (with reference to pornographic images and videos, as well as private information, involving children) at 8pm on Monday evening, 14 July 2025.
“If you do not ensure the deletion of the WhatsApp channels and Instagram profiles before then, the lives of numerous South African children will be irreparably harmed, with potentially suicidal consequences. You have the power to prevent this,” Candy wrote.
Mass distribution
In papers filed at the Gauteng High Court, Sadlier said investigations revealed that the person behind the profiles was soliciting sexual content from school children.
“They involve the mass distribution of unlawful material involving children to large unidentified audiences who are members of so-called WhatsApp ‘community channels’, as well as Instagram profiles,” Sadlier said.
“The content comprises explicit pornographic images and videos depicting children. The images and videos are often accompanied by other information relating to the individual child depicted, including their name, grade, school, as well as lewd or otherwise offensive descriptions relating to the individual’s purported behaviour.
“The affected individuals face the imminent and irreparable dissemination of their most sensitive and intimate information, which constitutes graphic child pornography, deeply invasive personal details, and profoundly defamatory content relating to numerous identifiable minors,” she said.
Warning to parents
Sadlier warned parents to check their children’s phones.
“I just want to alert parents to one of the biggest issues, and that is that these kids are all joining WhatsApp channels… The kind of content being circulated on these channels is horrific, child sexual abuse images, child pornography.
“I can’t tell you how harmful this content is. Please log in to your child’s WhatsApp account. At the bottom left, there is an icon labelled ‘Updates’. If you click on that and go to the top, if your child is following any WhatsApp channel, it will come up. I want you to go and have a look at that channel and see what kind of content is being posted,” Sadlier warned.
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