The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre to formalise statutory rules requiring social media platforms to comply with Indian laws on minors. This includes
enforcing an 18-year minimum age threshold for independently signing platform contracts. CJI Surya Kant-led Bench was hearing a PIL filed by NGO Just Rights For Children Alliance seeking strict safeguards and digital firewalls to prevent children under 18 from independently creating and using social media accounts. Senior Advocate HS Phoolka represented the NGO. Justice Joymalya Bagchi told Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta: “You must examine this. Opening a social media account requires agreeing to digital terms of service, which functions as a legal contract. Under Section 11 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872, minors 12- and 15-year-olds cannot enter into contracts, and agreements with minors are void ab initio (void from the beginning).” SG Mehta said: “Yes, it is a void contract. Something can be done..should be done and will be done. The requirement should not remain a mere guideline. Government must examine giving it a statutory format under the intermediary-rule framework”, Justice Bagchi said. The Union Ministries of Electronics and Information Technology, as well as Law and Justice are respondents in the case. Senior Advocate Phoolka highlighted severe dangers like online grooming, sextortion, cyberbullying, sexual exploitation, and data misuse that kids face due to weak age verification. PIL says many major platforms (such as Facebook and Snapchat) allow accounts for users aged 13 and above based on self-declared dates of birth, which contradicts Indian laws defining anyone under 18 as a minor. The petition does not seek a total internet ban for children, but rather mandatory parental/guardian consent and automated technical "firewalls”.
