Newdelhi: The Supreme Court sought responses from the Centre and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights on a public interest litigation seeking a comprehensive and enforceable national framework to protect children from risks linked to social media platforms, according to reports. The petition was filed by Indore-based Emerald Heights International School and its director of academics, Siddharth Singh Girnar, requesting mandatory age verification, age-appropriate access, verifiable parental consent, and stronger safeguards against cyberbullying, sexual exploitation, harmful content, and excessive platform use.
A bench consisting of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi issued notices to the ministries of women and child development and law and justice, along with the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights. The bench tagged this plea with a pending petition and scheduled the next hearing for December 7. The lawsuit argues that the ongoing failure to effectively shield minors from foreseeable hazards like grooming, behavioral profiling, compulsive usage features, and age-inappropriate material is arbitrary and violates constitutional provisions.
The petition asks the court to direct the central government to establish and implement a dedicated regulatory system to restrict or prohibit underage access to commercial social media networks. It also proposes formal age-based restrictions on account creation and maintenance. The filing highlights real-world concerns such as sleep deprivation, cyberbullying, anxiety over online validation, and reduced academic focus among minors.
According to the legal filing, individual parents and schools cannot handle these systemic challenges alone because the dangers are deeply embedded in the commercial design and engagement-driven operations of modern tech platforms. The matter remains active before the apex court as authorities prepare to submit their official responses.