The Supreme Court has recognised access to the internet as a fundamental right even for children and has refused an age-related ban on internet use.
It added: “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 bench stated.
Justices J B Pardiwala and K V Chandran made the observation on October 15 while hearing applications filed by the child rights NGO ‘Just Rights for Children Alliance’ and another applicant alleging that social media platforms were failing to meet their legal obligations to report child sexual exploitation and abuse material (CSEAM) to Indian authorities.
“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,” the court observed on Friday.
Because the law prohibits them from doing so, the top court proposed a strict framework to protect children from online child sexual abuse material (CSAM), observing that children do not cease to use the internet merely.
