The Delhi High Court has emphasized that the decision to ban or limit children’s access to social media platforms is a policy matter that should be determined by the government. On Thursday, a Division Bench composed of Justices V Kameswar Rao and Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora concluded proceedings on a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking to restrict social media access for minors and to curb the dissemination of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM).
The court instructed that the Central government should assess the issues highlighted in the PIL and arrive at a suitable decision after considering the petitioners’ suggestions and consulting relevant stakeholders, including social media companies. The Bench stated, “These are all in the domain of policy. They will be looking into it… Your [petitioners’] views would be taken into consideration by the respondents [government]. The stakeholders have to be consulted. Their views have to be taken… It’s in the realm of a policy, not for a court to give a direction that you should ban this, or you should ban that. Let them look into it, let them look into it, and then pass an order.” Notably, the court did not impose a timeline for the government to decide on this issue.
The PIL was filed by Kirti Dua, a mother of a three-year-old child, and Dr. Sharad Gupta, a pediatrician. The petition argued that unrestricted access to inappropriate and explicit content on social media violates children’s right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution, and contravenes the State’s responsibility under Article 39(f) to shield children from exploitation.
In the PIL, the petitioners referenced the government’s economic survey for 2025-2026, which raised concerns about increasing social media addiction and mental health issues among young people. “Even though they [Economic Survey] listed some measures in order to curb this viscous cycle of digital addiction, still it is voluntary in nature and we need a binding legislation for this serious issue,” the plea stated.
Representing Meta Platforms, Senior Advocate Arvind Datar informed the court that platforms like Facebook and Instagram have been proactive in their efforts to combat CSAM. “The number of accounts taken down is enormous. At the same time, you can’t stop some perverted rogue elements who do it. The technology is growing more and more, and it is easier to identify. There is photo DNA, there is so many techniques that have come into place, but what happens is, despite all our efforts, something leaks out and that comes into the media,” Datar explained. He further noted that Facebook and Instagram have proactive CSAM detection rates of 99.5% and 95.2%, respectively.
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Senior Advocate Pinky Anand, alongside advocate Anshul Gupta, advocated on behalf of the petitioners, requesting that Meta implement technologies or audit systems to swiftly remove offending content. The court maintained that the government would address these concerns.
Nidhi Raman, Central Government Standing Counsel (CGSC), represented the Central government during the proceedings.
