Supreme Court: Internet Access Is a Fundamental Right for Everyone, Including Children
The Supreme Court has held that the right to access and use the internet is a fundamental right of every person, including children. It placed this right under Article 21 (right to life and personal liberty) read with Article 19(1)(a) (freedom of speech and expression).
The ruling came from a bench of Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice K. Vinod Chandran, in applications filed in the case Just Rights for Children Alliance v. S. Harish. The bench was giving directions on removing child sexual exploitation and abuse material (CSEAM) from online platforms.
The court rejected a blanket age-based ban on children using the internet. It said that cutting children off because platforms fail to remove harmful content would treat the victim as the problem. It also warned that age checks for every user would mean constant collection of sensitive data.
Instead, it suggested age-based safeguards: a "child mode" for children's accounts, private accounts by default, limits on contact and messages from unknown adults, moderation of ads and content, and parental consent for pre-teens. The Union government will work out the details.
The government can still block children's access to content that is harmful by its nature, such as adult websites.
The court also issued directions to strengthen detection and removal of CSEAM, including a national database to identify and remove such content across platforms.
Right to Internet Access as a Fundamental Right
The right to internet access means a person has a protected right to get online and use the internet. India's Constitution does not mention the internet anywhere. But the Supreme Court has read this right into Article 21 (right to life and personal liberty) and Article 19(1)(a) (freedom of speech and expression). This means the government cannot cut off or limit a person's internet use without a valid law and a fair, balanced reason.
Until now, the Supreme Court had protected speech and trade over the internet, and in 2025 the right to digital access. This ruling goes one step further and says every person, including a child, has a fundamental right to access and use the internet. So any rule to protect children online must now make the internet safer for them, not shut them out of it.
Freedom of Speech and Expression: Article 19(1)(a)
Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution gives every citizen the right to freedom of speech and expression. This means you can share your views through words, writing, pictures, films or the internet. Courts have held that it also includes the right to receive information, not only to give it. The right is not unlimited: Article 19(2) allows "reasonable restrictions" on fixed grounds.
The court read the right to internet access together with Article 19(1)(a), because the internet is now the main way people receive and share information. A blanket ban on children going online would cut them off from this right entirely.
Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012
The POCSO Act, 2012 is India's special law to protect children from sexual abuse, sexual harassment and pornography. It treats every person below 18 years as a child, whether a boy or a girl. It sets out clear offences, strong punishments and child-friendly steps for reporting, recording statements and trial in Special Courts.
The internet ruling was made while the court was strengthening the fight against CSEAM. The court's approach is to make platforms detect and remove abuse material, including through a national database, rather than keep children off the internet altogether.
- Internet access declared a fundamental right of every individual, including children, under Article 21 read with Article 19(1)(a)
- Bench: Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice K. Vinod Chandran; case Just Rights for Children Alliance v. S. Harish
- Blanket age-based internet ban rejected; suggested child mode, private-by-default accounts and limits on strangers
- Earlier steps: Shreya Singhal (2015), Faheema Shirin (2019, Kerala HC), Anuradha Bhasin (2020), Pragya Prasun (2025)
- Shutdown law: Section 20, Telecommunications Act, 2023; orders last up to 15 days
- POCSO Act, 2012: child = below 18 years; Section 15 covers storage of child abuse material
- DPDP Act, 2023: verifiable parental consent needed for processing data of children below 18
- India recorded 84 internet shutdowns in 2024 (second highest in the world)
- UN Human Rights Council resolution 32/13 on human rights on the internet: 1 July 2016