Right to Access Internet Is a Fundamental Right, Even for Children: Supreme Court Rejects Blanket Age Ban, Orders Framework Against CSEAM

Citation: Just Rights for Children Alliance & Anr. v. S. Harish & Ors., 2026 INSC 1149

The Supreme Court has directed the Union government to set up a national system for detecting and removing child sexual abuse material (CSEAM) from social media, and to frame fresh rules making platforms act faster, report quickly and answer for failures.

It also refused to endorse a blanket ban on children’s use of the internet. The order was passed in the Just Rights for Children Alliance case, which led to the 2024 judgment on child pornography. The applicants brought news reports of paid promotions of such material on social media through redirect links and websites, and the Court noted that platforms may have found some of these advertisements acceptable because they carried no explicit images. Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K. Vinod Chandran held that, under the IT Act and the IT Rules, CSEAM covers any electronic material that facilitates or promotes the abuse of children, even without explicit images, so advertisements that promote tools or direct users to such content are CSEAM in substance. Its main directions to the Union are: framing guidelines for “perceptual hash” matching and URL listing; creating a National Hash & URL Database, with entries made only after three trained human analysts confirm the material; immediate removal by platforms of matched content; and a notice in place of every removal, with a way to challenge it. Platforms must report removals of unknown content to the police within two hours, and must display grievance officer details and a clear CSEAM reporting option within two steps. Every complaint must be reviewed by a trained officer and acknowledged within 24 hours, and platforms must publish monthly compliance reports that are independently audited.

Calling the loss of “safe harbour” under Section 79 “unusually inept”, the Court asked the Union to consider exemplary fines based on the platform’s size and turnover, and to make platforms give up revenue earned from paywalled content that carried such material. The SC held that the right to access the internet is a fundamental right of children too, and suggested parental consent, “child mode” and private-by-default accounts instead. It also wants age-appropriate digital safety and sex education from primary school, with helplines displayed in schools, and counselling for victims. The Union must file an affidavit on progress before the next hearing on 10 December 2026.

Under the IT Act and IT Rules, “CSEAM” is broader than under the POCSO Act, which needs a visual depiction because it is a penal statute. It covers any electronic material, including advertisements and links, that facilitates, promotes or enables the abuse or exploitation of children, so platforms cannot escape their duties because the material is not explicit. The right to access the internet is a fundamental right under Article 21 read with Article 19(1)(a), and child safety measures must target harmful material and those responsible for it, not the children themselves.