The Madras High Court has asked the central government to consider a law like Australia’s, which bans children under 16 from using social media. The Madurai bench also told authorities to improve awareness campaigns to reach vulnerable children through all available media until such a law is passed.
Parents and child rights groups welcomed this decision.
The bench, consisting of Justice G. Jayachandran and Justice K.K. Ramakrishnan, made this suggestion while handling a Public Interest Litigation (PIL). The PIL highlighted how easily children can access pornographic content on social media and asked authorities to implement “Parental Window” services and educate children about online safety.
Petitioner S. Vijayakumar referred to Australia’s law and suggested that India could do the same. He said awareness campaigns and parental control apps on devices could protect children from harmful online content.
The High Court noted that the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights and the Tamil Nadu Commission for Protection of Child Rights must educate society about child rights and safety. The court said that while some awareness campaigns focus on school children, these efforts are not enough.
The bench also said that even though the government has a website listing harmful content, there must be controls on users’ devices too. Parental control apps and awareness among children are needed to prevent access to child pornography.