NEW DELHI: The news reports regarding the government’s plan to impose curbs on social media for under-18s are fake and have no basis, government sources said on Wednesday.
The Supreme Court on Monday had asked the Centre to examine putting into a statutory framework the requirement that social media platforms comply with Indian laws governing minors, including the legal incapacity of those below 18 to independently enter into contracts.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana observed while hearing a plea by the Just Rights for Children Alliance (JRCA) seeking safeguards for children using social media and other digital platforms.
Justice Bagchi said the requirement should not remain merely a guideline and asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to consider giving it a “statutory format” under the intermediary rules.
The Solicitor General said the Centre would examine the issue. The plea challenged the ability of minors to independently create and maintain accounts on digital platforms despite their legal incapacity to enter into binding contracts. The clarification comes amid calls to regulate content on social media, especially for youth, has been made in recent months.
On April 25, former Chief Justice of India, Justice DY Chandrachud, said he was hopeful that there would be some kind of regulation that would bring some content to the online content in the country.
Responding to a question about a report that mentioned 62 million men have almost visited “online rape academy’, the CJI said the country must safeguard children and the younger generation from harmful online material.
“It’s very crucial that if we have to protect our young and if we have to protect women against the kind of gender violence that we see in society, if we have to protect the future of the nation, which the young generation is, there has to be legislation which brings some control on what the internet can show,” he said.
On March 15, former cricketer and BJP RS MP Harbhajan Singh had expressed concerns over explicit content on social media, urging stricter laws to block pornographic websites and regulate online harm. Speaking in the upper house of Parliament, when he was an AAP MP, Singh highlighted the risks to children’s mental health and societal values.
“Our children’s future is at risk. Today, many kids are getting addicted to social media platforms like Instagram and are being exposed to sexualized or semi-pornographic content at a very young age. This is affecting their mental health, increasing anxiety and depression, and shaping their mindset in unhealthy ways,” the former Indian cricketer said. (ANI)
