The Centre is preparing to amend the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules. The changes aim to prevent children under 18 from opening social media accounts. The development came during a Supreme Court hearing on a petition filed by Just Rights for Children Alliance. The NGO has raised concerns about children’s exposure to risks in the digital environment. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta represented the Centre during the hearing. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant heard the matter. Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana also heard the petition. Mehta said the government would introduce provisions requiring social media intermediaries to prevent minors from registering accounts.
What Happened In The Supreme Court?
The discussion focused on whether social media platforms should legally prevent minors from creating accounts. Mehta told the court that minors’ agreements with social media intermediaries are void contracts. He argued that platforms should therefore prevent such agreements. He also said educational websites could continue to allow memberships with parental consent. The court asked whether the government could direct platforms to ensure that their technology and software comply with Indian law.
The Centre indicated that platforms would have to comply with Indian requirements.
Justice Bagchi said social media platforms should restrict account registration to users above a minimum age of 18. Mehta agreed that such a restriction would need to be incorporated into law or rules. The court has asked the government to consider putting the requirement on a statutory footing and return with a response.
Why Is The Government Looking At This?
The petition before the court has raised concerns about several risks children may face online. These include online grooming, sexual exploitation, trafficking, behavioural profiling, misuse of personal data, cyberbullying and exposure to age-inappropriate content. The discussion also touched on how digital platforms are designed and how their recommendation systems influence what users see.
The government has indicated that the proposed changes would place greater responsibility on intermediaries rather than relying only on existing guidelines.
What Would Change For Social Media Platforms?
If the proposed amendment comes into force, social media platforms could be required to prevent users below 18 from registering accounts.
This would make age restrictions a statutory requirement rather than simply a platform-level policy. The government would also need to determine how platforms verify a user’s age while dealing with privacy, data protection and implementation issues. The material available so far does not provide details of the final verification mechanism or the exact form of the proposed amendment.
India Is Not The Only Country Looking At Age Restrictions
The discussion comes as several countries examine restrictions on children’s access to social media. Australia has already introduced a minimum age of 16 for social media access. Indonesia and Malaysia have also introduced restrictions, while France and Turkey have been considering minimum-age measures.
India’s proposed threshold of 18 years, if implemented in the form discussed before the Supreme Court, would be higher than the age limits cited in the source reports for several other countries.
At the state level, Karnataka proposed a social media restriction for children below 16 earlier this year. Andhra Pradesh has also discussed restrictions for younger users.
What Happens Next?
The Centre has indicated that it will work towards amending the IT Rules to establish the restriction. However, the final legal framework, including the precise age-verification process, implementation mechanism and treatment of educational platforms or parental consent, is yet to be set out in the material provided.
For now, the key development is that the Centre has told the Supreme Court it intends to move towards a statutory framework preventing under-18s from opening social media accounts.
The proposal could significantly change how social media platforms operate in India, particularly around age verification, account registration and children’s access to digital platforms.