India’s top court declared that access to and use of the internet is a fundamental right of every individual, including children, legal news outlet LiveLaw reported on Saturday.

It said that a blanket ban on children’s internet activity could make them vulnerable to greater risks rather than protect them from online abuse and exploitation. 

The Supreme Court also issued directions to bolster the processes for detecting and removing child sexual exploitation and abuse material (CSEAM) from social media and other online platforms, the report said. 

The court stressed that the right to freedom of speech and expression also incorporates the right to know, receive and impart information and ideas, LiveLaw reported.

The two-judge bench described the internet as a ‘marketplace of ideas, creative expression and information’ and said that its value went beyond the material it contains, as it provides opportunities for children in remote areas and those with disabilities. 

“For many children, particularly in remote areas, it is often the only source of learning and information,” the court said, according to LiveLaw.

For children with special needs, the internet is often the only platform where they can find company with others like them, the court said. 

The court acknowledged that the internet, in its current form, poses safety risks to children. But it said that keeping children away from the internet because of failures by platforms and the relevant authorities to detect and remove harmful content would amount to mistaking the victim for the problem, LiveLaw reported. 

The Supreme Court said that a legal ban would not stop children from using the internet, and that they could move to other unregulated platforms.

“Any blanket restriction on the access of internet by children is nothing more than unproven measures of proven disproportionality,” LiveLaw cited the court as saying.

The Supreme Court called for safeguards to ensure online child safety and the regulation of content accessible to children. 

It suggested measures such as a ‘child mode’ for social media accounts, LiveLaw said.

Saturday’s Supreme Court judgement comes amid a global debate on the ban of social media for children over risks from harmful content. Australia declared the world’s first social media ban for under-16s last year.

France followed suit this summer, before its Constitutional Court blocked the move.

DW