The key facts

  • India's Supreme Court recognized access to the internet as a fundamental right under Articles 21 and 19(1)(a) of the constitution, extending it to children of any age.
  • The case was heard on a petition by an NGO about 'serious lapses' by intermediaries in combating child sexual exploitation and abuse material (CSEAM).
  • The court ordered the creation of a national hash and URL database for detecting and removing CSEAM and requested data from the government on intermediaries' measures.

A fundamental right for everyone, including children

India's Supreme Court has ruled that the right to access and use the internet is a fundamental right of every person — including children, regardless of their age. As justices JB Pardiwala and Vinod K. Chandran noted, this right derives from Article 21 read together with Article 19(1)(a) of the constitution. The court emphasized that 'children, irrespective of age, enjoy the same rights,' and that completely depriving them of it would be as absurd as claiming that children below a certain age have no conscience or freedom of speech worth protecting. 'The safety of our children and their freedom are not in conflict with each other. Our children are entitled to both,' the ruling states.

The case over child sexual exploitation material

The decision was issued on a petition by a non-governmental organization, which pointed to 'serious lapses' by internet intermediaries in combating child sexual exploitation and abuse material (CSEAM) online. The court requested from the government information about the tools and technological measures intermediaries use to detect and remove such content. Among a number of directives is an instruction to the federal government to create a 'national hash and URL database' exclusively for detecting and removing CSEAM. The court also ruled that 'digital safety and age-appropriate sex education must become part of the core curriculum.'

Context: India's regulation and digital landscape

The ruling comes against the backdrop of a number of countries introducing bans or restrictions on children's access to social networks. As Anadolu notes, India's chief economic adviser this year proposed age-based policies for access to digital platforms, stating that 'younger users are more vulnerable to compulsive use and harmful content.' According to the statistics portal Statista, cited by the outlet, as of October of last year India had the world's largest Facebook audience — more than 403 million users — and the largest YouTube audience.