Sunil Chadha
DHARAMSHALA:
The Madras High Court has advised the Union government to consider bringing a law on the lines of Australia’s recent legislation that restricts children below the age of 16 from using social media platforms such as X, Facebook and Instagram. The observation was made during the hearing of S Vijayakumar vs Union of India, a case focused on the unchecked access to pornographic content on the Internet.
A division bench of Justices G Jayachandran and KK Ramakrishnan said that until such a law is examined and implemented, authorities must strengthen public awareness programmes on the risks posed by child pornography. The court also asked the Central and State Commissions for Protection of Child Rights to prepare and roll out a clear and effective action plan to deal with the issue.
Referring to the Australian law, the court noted that social media companies there are legally bound to stop children under 16 from opening accounts, failing which they face heavy penalties. The responsibility under the law is placed on the platforms, not on children or their parents.
The petitioner had also requested the court to direct internet service providers to offer parental control features or a dedicated “parental window” to help monitor children’s online activity. While the bench acknowledged that some awareness drives are conducted in schools, it observed that these efforts are limited and not adequate.
On the role of ISPs, the court pointed out that they function under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, and are required to block objectionable websites when informed. Despite this, child sexual abuse material continues to be available online. The bench stressed that parental control applications and user-level awareness are crucial to addressing the problem.
Highlighting the vulnerability of children, the court said parental responsibility becomes even more important in the digital age. It added that Internet users must be educated about the dangers of child pornography and the steps that can be taken to prevent children from accessing such content.
