The Delhi High Court will hear on August 5 a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking the formulation of a nationwide statutory framework to regulate and restrict social media access for children below the age of 13, following the recusal of Justice Tejas Karia from the case.
The petition was listed before the Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia. After Justice Karia recused himself from hearing the case, the Division Bench directed that the matter be placed before another Division Bench not comprising him on August 5.
Filed by Kirti Dua, the mother of a three-year-old child, along with paediatrician Dr Sharad Gupta, the petition raised concerns over the absence of a comprehensive legal framework governing children’s access to social media platforms and sought judicial intervention for framing binding regulations to safeguard minors from harmful online content and digital addiction.
According to the petition, unrestricted access to social media exposes children to inappropriate, sexually explicit and harmful content, thereby infringing their fundamental right to life and personal liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. It further contended that the State was under a constitutional obligation under Article 39(f) to ensure that children were protected against exploitation and provided opportunities to develop in a healthy and dignified environment.
Referring to the Economic Survey 2025-26, the plea highlighted the growing incidence of social media addiction and the adverse impact of excessive digital engagement on the mental health and well-being of young people.
While acknowledging that the Survey recommended several measures to address digital addiction, it argued that the existing safeguards remained voluntary and lacked statutory force. A binding legislative framework was necessary to effectively regulate children’s access to social media platforms, it added.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), the Ministry of Women and Child Development, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) have been arrayed as respondents. The petition also impleaded major technology and social media companies, including Meta, Alphabet Inc., Telegram, Snap Inc and X.
It further sought directions to introduce a prohibition on social media access for children below the age of 13, while advocating stricter content regulation for users between 13 and 16 years of age. It also proposed the introduction of overnight usage restrictions for teenage users and mandatory age-verification mechanisms based on the Digi Yatra model to ensure effective enforcement of age-based access controls.
The petition also called for stricter implementation of existing statutory safeguards under the Information Technology Act, the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. It sought directions requiring social media intermediaries to proactively filter harmful content and disable URLs hosting child sexual abuse material in accordance with their statutory due diligence obligations.
Referring to legislative developments in jurisdictions including Australia, Canada, France, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Greece and Italy, where governments have enacted or proposed laws aimed at strengthening online child safety, the petition contended that India should draw upon these international regulatory models while framing a comprehensive legal framework governing children’s use of social media.
It further cited recent judicial developments abroad, including decisions concerning the alleged addictive design of social media platforms and findings relating to the liability of technology companies for harm caused to minors, to demonstrate the growing global recognition of the risks associated with unrestricted social media access among children.
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