Supreme Court Plea Seeks Regulation On Independent Social Media Accounts For Children Below 18
The plea argues as to how a person who is statutorily incompetent to independently enter into a contract can be permitted to have accounts on social media.
accounts of persons below eighteen years.
The Supreme Court has sought Centre's response in a PIL seeking regulation on children below the age of eighteen years, being permitted to independently create and maintain accounts on social-media platforms and access digital platforms.
The petition filed by Just Right For Children Alliance argues that notwithstanding the children's statutory incapacity to contract under Section 11 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 as an agreement entered into by a person who was a minor on the date of execution is void ab initio, they cannot be allowed to maintain social media accounts.
A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana issued notices to the Centre. "We need some safeguards in India," the bench remarked while issuing notice.
"The absence of an effective and uniform mechanism giving practical effect to such statutory incapacity in the digital environment exposes children to foreseeable risks including online grooming, sexual exploitation, trafficking, behavioural profiling, misuse of personal data, cyberbullying, exposure to age inappropriate content and other harms affecting their safety, dignity, development and well-being, " the plea argues.
The plea seeks directions to Union of India to ensure that persons below eighteen years of age are not permitted to enter into contracts with digital platforms, including social media, online gaming, content-sharing, live-streaming and other user-generated-content platforms, while permitting access to lawful, educational and age-appropriate digital content through accounts maintained and controlled by their parents or lawful guardians, subject to an appropriate regulatory framework.
"Under Section 3 of the Majority Act, 1875, a person attains majority only upon completing eighteen years. Under Section 11 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872, a person who has not attained the age of majority is not competent to contract. Notwithstanding the aforesaid statutory position, social-media intermediaries and digital platforms operating in India presently permit persons below eighteen years, generally from the age of thirteen years, to independently create and maintain accounts by merely declaring their age or date of birth. Such account creation ordinarily involves acceptance of contractual terms such as Terms of Service, User Agreements, Privacy Policies, etc., governing the relationship between the platform and the user," Court has been told.
Further reliance is placed on The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 which recognises the special vulnerability of children in the digital environment and under Section 9 requires verifiable parental or lawful guardian consent for processing the personal data of a child and imposes further restrictions concerning detrimental processing, tracking, behavioural monitoring and targeted advertising.
It is further argued that the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, are conspicuously silent on the question of the contractual capacity of a minor to access and use the services of a social-media intermediary or digital platform.
The plea also cites a recent incident where two minor girls were rescued after being allegedly lured through Pinterest and a language-learning application with promises of becoming K-pop idols in South Korea. The girls were persuaded to leave their homes and were being moved towards Siliguri and the international border region as part of a pre-planned journey allegedly orchestrated by individuals they had met online, the PIL states.
Case Title: Just Rights for Children Alliance Vs Union Of India and Anr
Bench: CJI Kant, Justice Bagchi and Justice Mohana
Hearing Date: September 10, 2026