Children in India have a fundamental right to access and use the internet, and protecting them from online harm cannot justify denying them access altogether, the Supreme Court has held in an order passed on October 15, Bar and Bench reported. A bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K. Vinod Chandran gave the ruling in Just Rights for Children Alliance & Anr. v. S. Harish & Ors., while issuing extensive directions to detect and remove child sexual exploitation and abuse material (CSEAM) online.
Source: Bar and Bench
'We have no hesitation in saying that the right to access and use the internet is a fundamental right of every individual under Article 21 read with Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. Our children, irrespective of their age enjoy the same rights, and to deny the same altogether would be as absurd as saying children below a certain age do not have a conscience worth protecting or a freedom of speech worth expressing. The safety of our children and their freedom are not at odds with each other. Our children are entitled to both,' the Court said, as quoted by Bar and Bench.
The bench reasoned that child-safety measures must target harmful material and those who create, circulate or profit from it — not children themselves. Blanket age-based restrictions, it said, are an overreach: enforcing them requires identifying every user's age and continuously collecting sensitive data, creating a disproportionate risk of misuse and surveillance, MediaNama reported in its analysis of the 137-page order. Such bans can also push children towards unregulated platforms and make victims less willing to report abuse, the Court noted.
Source: MediaNama
A national Hash & URL List Database for known CSEAM, with hash-matching guidelines; platforms to remove known matches immediately, make complaint reporting reachable within two steps, train officers handling such complaints and file detailed transparency reports; digital safety and age-appropriate sex education in the core school curriculum; and the Centre to frame guidelines and SOPs, including any needed IT Act and IT Rules changes, and report progress by the next hearing on December 10, 2026.
The Court did not rule out safeguards altogether. It suggested proportionate measures such as parental consent and oversight, dedicated child modes, accounts that are private by default, limits on messages from unknown adults and moderation of advertising and content, dig.watch reported in its summary of the order. It also made clear the government may still restrict children's access to specific inherently harmful categories of content, including adult websites.
Source: dig.watch
Describing the internet as a marketplace of ideas and, for many children in remote areas, often the only source of learning and information, the bench said intermediaries that fail to detect and remove abuse material are among the wrongdoers the law should pursue, Nagaland Post reported, citing agency and Live Law reports of the order. The Union government has been directed to report progress before the matter returns to court on December 10, 2026.
Source: Nagaland Post