The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a notice to Centre on a petition seeking stronger safeguards to protect children from sexual exploitation and abuse material on social media and other digital platforms.
While hearing the petition, a bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana stressed the need for stronger digital protections for children. During the hearing, the Bench orally observed that “firewalls are very necessary for children” amid widespread access to digital platforms, news agency ANI reported.
The plea, filed by the Just Rights for Children Alliance, sought measures to ensure that minors are adequately protected while using social media and other digital services.
The NGO in its petition has raised concerns over the alleged failure of platforms to deploy effective automated content-filtering systems and age-verification mechanisms. According to the plea, algorithm-driven recommendations can expose young users to sexually abusive and age-inappropriate content, while reporting mechanisms may not adequately connect platforms with law-enforcement agencies.
The plea also sought changes to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, or the framing of specific guidelines to ensure that children below 18 do not enter into contracts with digital platforms without the consent of a parent or lawful guardian.
It has sought identity verification or e-KYC of parents or guardians wherever such involvement is required, depending on the nature and risk of the digital service.
The petition highlighted several risks associated with children’s independent access to digital platforms, including online grooming, sexual exploitation, trafficking, cyberbullying, behavioural profiling, misuse of personal data and exposure to inappropriate content.
The top court was also apprised of the precedent laid down in Just Rights for Children Alliance v. S. Harish (2024), where the apex court held that intermediaries cannot claim statutory safe harbour under Section 79 of the IT Act if they fail to discharge mandatory reporting duties under Sections 19 and 20 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
It thus sought responses from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and regulatory authorities on algorithmic audits and current filtering protocols.
