Supreme Court seeks Centre's reply on social media curbs for kids

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday sought the Centre's response to a public interest litigation seeking an enforceable regulatory framework to protect children from the risks associated with social media, including cyberbullying, sexual exploitation and exposure to harmful content.

The petition, filed by Emerald Heights International School, Indore, and its director Siddharth Singh, seeks comprehensive safeguards for children using social media platforms. It argues that protecting minors from online harms is a constitutional obligation of the state and cannot be left solely to parental supervision or voluntary measures adopted by technology companies. The plea names the Union government, the ministries of electronics and information technology, women and child development, and law and justice, along with the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, among the respondents.

The petition highlights risks, including online grooming, coercion involving intimate images, compulsive social media use, mental health problems and exposure to violent, sexually explicit and other age-inappropriate material. It also raises concerns about behavioural profiling and platform designs that encourage excessive use.


Invoking Articles 14, 15(3), 21 and 21A of the Constitution, the petition contends that the failure to provide effective protection against foreseeable online harms infringes children's rights to safety, dignity, privacy and healthy development. The petitioners argue that parental controls and voluntary safeguards offered by social media companies are insufficient to address the scale of the problem, necessitating an enforceable regulatory framework.

The plea seeks directions to the Centre to frame, notify and implement dedicated rules governing children's safety on social media platforms. Alternatively, it seeks a prohibition on social media use by children below a prescribed age, restrictions on access for older children, or enforceable age-based limits on creating, maintaining and using accounts on designated platforms. The petition also draws on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, highlighting the need to protect children from abuse, exploitation and material harmful to their well-being.