Frame legislation to regulate internet use by kids, Madurai HC tells Centre

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has observed that the Centre could consider framing a legislation to regulate the use of internet by kids, similar to a law in Australia.

Until such a legislation is in place, the state and national commission for protection of child rights could draft an action plan to create awareness among children on child rights and safe use of the internet, the court said.

The framework suggested by the court aims at restricting children below 16 years from having social media accounts, amidst apprehensions over the minors' exposure to harmful online content.

A division bench comprising Justices G Jayachandran and K K Ramakrishnan made the remarks recently after counsel K P S Palanivel Rajan, representing the petitioner S Vijayakumar, cited a new Australian law which banned social media usage by children under 16, and said India could consider introducing similar legislation.

Vijayakumar had filed the public interest litigation praying for a direction to the internet service providers (ISPs) to provide "parental window" service and to create awareness among the children through the authorities.

Rajan had contended that the petitioner sought the above relief as pornographic content was easily available online.

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