NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday issued notice to the Union government on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking safeguards, including firewalls, to protect children below 18 from online exploitation and other risks associated with social media and other digital platforms.
The matter was heard by a three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana.
The PIL, filed by the Just Rights for Children Alliance (JRCA), raises concerns over minors being allowed to independently create and maintain accounts on digital platforms despite their inability to enter into contracts under Section 11 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872.
The petition says the absence of an effective, uniform mechanism to verify users' age and legal authority exposes children to risks including online grooming, sexual exploitation, digital trafficking, sextortion, behavioural profiling, misuse of personal data, cyberbullying and exposure to age-inappropriate content.
The plea has sought directions to the Centre to inform digital platforms, including social media intermediaries, that any contract entered into by a child below 18 is void ab initio and to suspend steps taken in furtherance of such contracts.
It has also sought the insertion of a specific provision in the Information Technology Rules, 2021, or the framing of appropriate guidelines to ensure that minors do not enter into such agreements without the consent of a parent or lawful guardian.
It also sought verification of the identity and authority of the parent or guardian through e-KYC or another legally recognised mechanism.
The petition further seeks directions for advisories requiring parental or guardian involvement wherever minors are permitted to access digital platforms, with safeguards proportionate to the nature and risk of the service. It has also sought interim directions until the government puts an appropriate mechanism in place.
“An incapacity of a minor to enter into a contract is settled law, and that protection cannot simply disappear when the agreement moves from paper to a click online. Millions of children are being onboarded onto powerful digital platforms every day on nothing more than a self-declared birthdate, with no real age verification and no guardian involved,” Senior Advocate HS Phoolka said, representing the JRCA.
“Our petition asks the Court to close that gap and ensure that the same legal protection available to a child offline applies with equal force online. The Court has said that there need to be safeguards in India and that there should be some firewalls to protect children in the digital environment. We welcome today’s notice as an important step towards ensuring the law keeps pace with where children actually are,” Phoolka added.
The petition does not seek to exclude children from the digital ecosystem, noting that digital platforms play an important role in education, research, skilling, examination preparation, career opportunities and civic participation.
Instead, it seeks to ensure that minors' access is based on a legally attributable and digitally verifiable mechanism rather than an unverified declaration of age by the child.
