The Supreme Court has declared that the right to access and use the internet is a fundamental right available to every individual, including children, under Articles 21 and 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. The court said children's online safety and their freedom of expression must be protected together, rejecting the idea that children should be completely denied internet access because of online risks.
A bench comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice K Vinod Chandran made the observations while issuing directions to strengthen mechanisms for detecting and removing child sexual exploitation and abuse material (CSEAM) from social media platforms and other online services.
“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 bench observed. It said children, irrespective of their age, enjoyed the same rights, adding that denying them these rights altogether would be as absurd as suggesting that children below a certain age had no conscience worth protecting or 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 court said.
Internet access vital for learning and expression
The bench considered whether children should be entirely shielded from the internet and social media to protect them from harm. It noted that the right to freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a) also includes the right to know, receive and impart information and ideas.
Describing the internet as a marketplace of ideas, creative expression and information, the court said its significance lay not only in the information available online but also in the access it provided to adults and children.
“For many children, particularly in remote areas, it is often the only source of learning and information,” the bench observed.
It also highlighted the importance of the internet for children with special needs, noting that online spaces could be the only places where they found companionship with others facing similar circumstances.
The ruling builds on earlier judicial decisions concerning digital access and constitutional freedoms. In Anuradha Bhasin v. Union of India in 2020, the Supreme Court held that freedom of speech and expression, as well as the freedom to carry on trade or business through the internet, was constitutionally protected under Articles 19(1)(a) and 19(1)(g). However, the court then refrained from deciding whether access to the internet was, by itself, a fundamental right.
In Pragya Prasun & Ors. v. Union of India in 2025, the court recognised the right to digital access as a fundamental right under Article 21. The latest ruling goes further by expressly declaring the right to access and use the internet a fundamental right, including for children.
Blanket restrictions could push children towards unsafe platforms
The bench acknowledged that the internet, in its present form, poses significant risks to children. However, it said keeping children away from the internet because online intermediaries had failed to identify and remove harmful material would amount to mistaking the victim for the problem.
The court observed that prohibiting children from using the internet would not necessarily stop them from going online. Instead, they could migrate to unregulated websites and platforms that might expose them to even greater risks.
It also warned that blanket restrictions could discourage children who were being threatened or enticed online from reporting such incidents to parents, guardians or trusted adults. They might fear being reprimanded for accessing the internet in the first place.
“Any blanket restriction on the access of internet by children is nothing more than unproven measures of proven disproportionality,” the bench observed, noting that no jurisdiction had demonstrated that such measures made children safer.
The court also raised concerns about age-based restrictions that require the identification and verification of every user's age. Such systems could entail continuous collection and monitoring of sensitive personal data, creating disproportionate risks of misuse and surveillance.
Court proposes child-friendly safeguards
While rejecting a blanket prohibition, the Supreme Court clarified that its observations did not rule out age-appropriate safeguards to protect children online. It said proportionate measures could help regulate the content children access without denying them their fundamental rights.
The bench suggested greater emphasis on parental consent, guidance and supervision when children use social media, alongside a dedicated “child mode” for their accounts.
Possible safeguards include making children's accounts private by default, restricting messages and contact from unknown adults, and moderating advertisements and other content accessible to young users. The court indicated that such measures could be introduced for pre-teens, with reasonable and proportionate methods of verifying parental consent.
The modalities of implementing these safeguards have been left to the Union government.
The bench also clarified that its observations would not prevent the government from restricting children's access to specific categories of content or services inherently harmful to them, including adult-content websites.
Directions to tackle online child sexual abuse material
The ruling was delivered in proceedings concerning measures to prevent the circulation of child sexual exploitation and abuse material.
Alongside its observations on internet access, the court issued directions to strengthen the detection, identification and removal of CSEAM across social media platforms and other online services. These include establishing a comprehensive national database to help identify and remove such material across platforms.
The broader directions also call for the Union government to consider guidelines, standard operating procedures and necessary legal amendments to strengthen the regulatory framework. The measures place emphasis on improving platform accountability and preventing the circulation of abusive material, rather than making children bear the consequences of online safety failures.
The bench comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice K Vinod Chandran issued the directions as part of its efforts to strengthen safeguards against online child sexual exploitation while protecting children's constitutional rights.