Need social media firewalls, safeguards for minors: Supreme Court

NEW DELHI: With minors' access to social media platforms banned in many countries, Supreme Court Thursday took the first step in this regard by seeking govt's response to a PIL that said opening a social media account is akin to signing a contract - which is impermissible for a person below 18 years of age under Indian law.The plea by senior advocate H S Phoolka, on behalf of NGO Just Rights for Children Association, found resonance with a bench of CJI Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, which said there was a need for safeguards and firewalls to protect minors.Phoolka said children were at present permitted to independently create and maintain accounts on social media platforms and access digital platforms "notwithstanding their statutory incapacity to enter into a contract under Section 11 of Indian Contract Act, 1872", and said such contracts are void ab initio.The NGO said the absence of an effective and uniform mechanism giving practical effect to such statutory incapacity in the digital environment exposed children to "foreseeable risks, including online grooming, sexual exploitation, trafficking, behavioural profiling, misuse of personal data, cyberbullying, exposure to age-inappropriate content and other harms affecting their safety, dignity, development and well-being".

It requested the court to direct govt to ensure that persons below 18 years of age are not permitted to enter into contracts with digital platforms, including social media, online gaming, content-sharing, live-streaming and other user generated content platforms. It said minors could be permitted to access lawful, educational and age-appropriate digital content through accounts maintained and controlled by their parents or guardians, subject to an appropriate regulatory framework.Phoolka said social media platforms applied US law in India, not Indian law. In US, a person above 13 years can lawfully enter into a contract. CJI Kant said, "We need some safeguards in India. " Justice Bagchi said, "There should be some firewalls. "

The NGO said opening of accounts includes acceptance of contractual terms and conditions, user agreements, privacy policy, etc, which govern the relationship between the platform and the user.Referring to provisions of Digital Personal Data Protection Act, the NGO said Section 9 required verifiable parental or guardian consent for processing a child's personal data. The Act also imposes restrictions concerning detrimental processing, tracking, behavioural monitoring and targeted advertising, it said.However, the existing statutory framework does not expressly prohibit a person below 18 from independently creating an account on a digital platform nor does it prescribe a uniform mechanism for preventing such independent opening of accounts, it said.