NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court restraining YouTube channels from publishing misleading content on megastar Amitabh Bachchan's granddaughter Aaradhya's health will help the government in ensuring the privacy of thousands of children, several experts say.
The court's order issued Thursday will also help fix the accountability of companies who put children at risk, the experts, including the chairperson of apex child rights body NCPCR Priyank Kanoongo, told PTI.
Hearing a lawsuit filed by Aaradhya and her father actor Abhishek Bachchan, the court said spreading misinformation about a child reflects "morbid perversity", and directed Google to take down certain videos which claimed Aaradhya Bachchan was "critically ill" and "no more".
Speaking to PTI about the case outcome, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) chairperson Kanoongo said, "We welcome the decision and it will help us in ensuring privacy of thousands of children and fix accountability of companies. It will also pave the way for making companies more responsible," he said.
The experts also called upon parents to reflect on how much social media exposure they want for their children as it leads to "early adultification, trolling and unwarranted exposure".
Child rights activist and Padma Shri awardee Sunitha Krishnan said it is important for parents to reflect on what their children are being exposed to.
"Exposure to technology is causing early adultification of children. It is leading to cyberbullying and parents have to take a call on how much they want to secure their child's childhood. It is time for reflection for parents, including celebrity parents," she told PTI.
Akancha Srivastava, a cyber activist, said when a child's brain is developing, there are so many things that can go wrong and social media addiction is one of that.
"Parents are also the ones who are putting their children's photos and videos online because they want validation on social media, and once the child realises they are being appreciated, that is when the addiction starts. They start seeking validation from strangers and parents also encourage this telling by them it is okay to seek this validation and that makes the child spiral down a whirlpool," she told PTI.
Srivastava said the problem was not the consumption of social media but the quantity of it.
"Everything which is done in moderation is not a problem. If the parents understand this, they can instil the practice of better use of social media. It is the parents who can help the kids through this," she added.
Speaking on the issue, Safir Anand, co-managing partner of the law firm which represented Aaradhya Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan in court, said finding the right balance between freedom of speech and defamatory posts is vital.
"Any content that propagates rumours or false information of any kind or unfounded content that may impair the reputation or the dignity of a party is liable to be challenged, and if the post is found to be false or misleading, it constitutes an offence," he added.