Supreme Court says internet access is a fundamental right of children, cautions on bans

The Supreme Court has said that the right to access and use the internet is a fundamental right of every individual, including children, and has cautioned against blanket restrictions on children’s online access. A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran made the observations in an order dated Thursday, 15 October 2026, which became public on Saturday, 17 October, according to Hindustan Times and The Indian Express. The order text itself could not be accessed for this report; the wording below is as quoted by those outlets.

What the court said

The bench was hearing applications by the child rights group Just Rights for Children Alliance and another applicant, who alleged that social media platforms were not meeting their legal duty to report child sexual exploitation and abuse material (CSEAM) to Indian authorities, The Indian Express reported. The applicants sought uniform reporting procedures, a central portal and action against non-compliant intermediaries.

In the order, the court said: “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.” It added that “our children, irrespective of their age, enjoy the same rights”, and that “the safety of our children and their freedom are not at odds with each other.”

Both outlets reported that the bench saw blanket bans as unlikely to work. Children could move to less regulated platforms, and those being groomed or threatened might not tell a parent or guardian for fear of punishment, which the court said would undermine the aims of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The Indian Express reported that the court described such bans as “unproven measures of proven disproportionality”.

Safeguards the court outlined

The bench said that rejecting blanket bans did not mean there should be no age-based safeguards, according to Hindustan Times. It described a framework built on parental consent, guidance and oversight, with a dedicated “child mode” for social media accounts. Such accounts could, for example, be private by default, limit contacts and messages from unknown adults, and moderate advertising and content shown to children. The modalities were left to the Union government.

Hindustan Times reported that the court said its observations do not stop the government from restricting children’s access to specific categories of content or services that are inherently harmful, such as adult-content websites. It also said digital safety and sex education should be taught together, in an age-appropriate way.

The Indian Express reported that the court directed the Centre to create a national database of digital identifiers and URLs linked to confirmed abusive material, to help detect and remove it.

Related petition and next steps

The observations come while the court is separately considering a plea for age-based limits on children’s social media use. On Friday, 16 October, a bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi issued notice to the Centre, the Union ministries of women and child development and of law and justice, and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights on a petition by Indore-based Emerald Heights International School and its director, Siddharth Singh, Hindustan Times reported. The petition seeks a prohibition on social media use below a prescribed age and regulation of access for older children. The reports reviewed did not include a response from the Centre.

In the CSEAM matter, the Centre has been asked to file an affidavit on the steps taken to implement the court’s earlier directions. The Indian Express reported that the case will next be heard on 10 December.