The Digital Law Company has filed an application to hold Meta Platforms in contempt of court for failing to provide data on individuals posting explicit content of South African school children on WhatsApp.

Should Meta continue to fail to comply with an order to release the alleged perpetrators’ data, the law firm asked the court to imprison Meta’s head of public policy for the Southern Africa region, Thabo Makenete.

This comes after the law firm obtained an urgent order from the Johannesburg High Court compelling Meta to shut down channels hosting such content across its platforms — WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook.

Judge Mudunwazi Makamu also ordered that Meta release to the law firm all information about the individuals who created these channels, including names, email addresses, and telephone numbers. In its contempt application, Digital Law Company said that although Meta Platforms shut down many of the original WhatsApp channels and Instagram accounts in question, dozens more have sprung up.

Crucially, it said Meta had not disabled the perpetrator’s access to its platforms nor released the identifying information necessary to take legal action against them. The law firm launched its urgent application on Monday evening after an anonymous WhatsApp and Instagram user threatened to publish a large volume of offending material.

Social media legal expert Emma Sadleir, founder of The Digital Law Company, explained that she had been contacted by someone on Friday, 11 July, regarding two accounts posting illegal content.

Sadleir described the content being posted as “horrific” and explained that the perpetrator solicited submissions from followers featuring underage minors. While such incidents often involve extortion, it appeared as though the person posting this content purely wanted to shame and humiliate the subjects. Upon further investigation, Sadleir said they discovered a network of accounts and channels on Instagram and WhatsApp with significant reach.

Many of these channels featured the same keyword in the name and a similar modus operandi, suggesting they were connected or even created by the same individual or group.

Sadleir said they found over a thousand posts, including photos and videos, had been published in the span of a few days across 30 different accounts.

In response to Judge Makamu’s order, Meta said that it has a zero tolerance for child sexual exploitation and is committed to ensuring the safety of all users on its platforms.

“We can confirm that the accounts we have been able to identify have been shut down, and we have submitted reports to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in line with applicable laws,” it said.

“We will continue to engage with law enforcement and respond to valid legal requests.”

According to the Digital Law Company, they received a letter from Facebook South Africa’s legal representatives stating that they had cited the wrong people in their legal action. Facebook SA’s lawyers said that future correspondence should be addressed to the relevant Meta officials in the United States, as the local entity had no operational role on its platforms.

However, the Digital Law Company said Facebook SA’s correspondence was “puzzling,” as their original letter of demand was not addressed to them but to Meta and officials who work for the company.

“We have never sought any relief from Facebook SA, which (as we understand it) has no control over WhatsApp and Instagram. That control resides with Meta, to whom our demand was indeed addressed.”

The Digital Law Company has requested that a hearing on its contempt of court application be scheduled for Friday, July 18, 2025. Should the judge find in their favour, they have asked that Meta be directed to fully comply with the original court order by 14:00 on Saturday, 19 July.

If Meta fails to comply, the law firm has asked the court to issue a writ committing Makenete to imprisonment for contempt of court for 30 days, or until Meta releases the perpetrator’s information as ordered.

Source: Mybroadbandsa