Plea To Prohibit Social Media Use By Children Below 13 Yrs : Supreme Court Allows Petitioner To Approach Union Govt

The Supreme Court today refused to entertain a public interest litigation seeking a statutory prohibition on social media usage for children below 13 years of age in view of the severe physical, mental, and psychological impact of social media on young minds.A bench of Justices BR Gavai and AG Masih passed the order, saying that the issue lies in policy domain and therefore the petitioner, who was represented by Advocate-on-Record Mohini Priya, may approach the Union Government-authorities."Inasmuch as the relief sought is within the domain of policy, we therefore dispose of the petition with liberty to the petitioner to make a representation to the respondent-authorities...to be considered in accordance with law within a period of 8 weeks from the date of receipt."It is pertinent to note that the draft of the Digital Data Protection Rules proposes to mandate that social media and gaming platforms must take parental consent before allowing children to open accounts.Besides the relief of statutory prohibition, the petitioner had sought a direction to respondent-authorities to incorporate provisions of mandatory parental controls for children between 13-18 years of age, including real-time monitoring tools, strict age verification and content restrictions in the Draft Digital Personal Data Protection Rules proposed to be passed under the Draft Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.Further, it prayed for the authorities to mandate introduction of robust age verification systems, such as biometric authentication to regulate children's access to social media platforms. Qua social media platforms, the petitioner sought imposition of strict penalties in case of failure to comply with child protection regulations, and implementation of algorithmic safeguards to prevent targeting of minors with addictive content.As per the petitioner, the unrestricted access of children below 13 years of age to social media platforms is causing an unprecedented mental health crisis in India. It was contended that unregulated digital exposure of minors constitutes an egregious violation of fundamental right to life under Article 21, which extends to mental well-being."India is witnessing an alarming surge in depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide rates among children, with overwhelming empirical evidence establishing a direct correlation between excessive social media usage and declining mental health."Relying on a study conducted by Social Media Matters, the petitioner highlighted that a significant percentage of young users spend over 5 hours daily on social media, engaging in endless scrolling and consuming algorithm-driven content specifically designed to induce addiction-like behavior."recent reports from Maharashtra indicate that 17% of children aged 9-17 years spend over six hours daily on social media or gaming platforms. This alarming statistic highlights the rapid deterioration of academic performance, cognitive abilities, and psychological well-being among minors. The compulsive nature of social media engagement has been scientifically linked to sleep deprivation, deteriorating mental health, and long-term neurodevelopmental impairments."On international level, it urged, multiple jurisdictions like Australia, the UK and several states in US have already implemented strict statutory prohibitions and regulatory frameworks to curb social media addiction among minors.Contending that children below 13 yrs of age lack the requisite cognitive maturity and emotional resilience to navigate the complex and potentially hazardous digital landscape, the petitioner further stated that complete ban on social media usage for them was imperative."Given that approximately 30% of India's population comprises individuals within the 4-18 age group, it is imperative to implement a statutory prohibition on social media access for children under 13 years."Besides the concerns of mental well-being, academic decline and unhealthy lifestyles related to social media access, the petitioner also flagged the issue of cyber bullying. Online harassment has escalated due to the anonymity offered by social media, it said. "Studies reveal that cyberbullying incidents have significantly increased, with nearly 33.8% of adolescents reporting being victims at least once in their lifetime."It was further the petitioner's case that the existing self-declared age verification mechanisms employed by social media platforms are manifestly inadequate, permitting minors to circumvent restrictions with case. Citing the example of Facebook and Instagram, it stated,"Social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, operated by Meta, currently impose a nominal age restriction requiring users to be at least 13 years of age to create an account. However, this requirement is inadequately enforced, as accounts created by children below the prescribed age threshold are identified only when flagged through user reports. Such a reactive approach fails to address the ...

Plea To Prohibit Social Media Use By Children Below 13 Yrs : Supreme Court Allows Petitioner To Approach Union Govt

Debby Jain

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