Madras High Court urges Centre to consider banning social media for children below 16
Chennai: The Madras High Court has asked the Union government to consider bringing in a law, similar to legislation in Australia, to regulate and monitor internet usage by children, citing the easy availability of pornographic and harmful content online.
The observation was made by a Division Bench of Justice G. Jayachandran and Justice K. K. Ramakrishnan while hearing a public interest litigation that raised concerns about children’s exposure to objectionable material on the internet. The Bench noted that children are particularly vulnerable in the digital space and that stronger safeguards are required to protect them.
The court observed that while adults may exercise personal choice in accessing online content, the responsibility of parents and authorities is much higher when it comes to children. It said awareness about the dangers of child pornography and other harmful online material must be significantly improved until a dedicated law is enacted.
In its order, the court said the Union government may explore the possibility of introducing legislation on the lines of Australia to address the issue. Until such a law is passed, the Bench directed authorities to intensify awareness campaigns and ensure that information reaches vulnerable groups through all available media platforms. It also expressed hope that both the State and Central Commissions concerned with child protection would prepare and implement a concrete action plan.
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The court was hearing a petition filed by S. Vijayakumar, who highlighted the growing internet usage among children and the increasing access to abusive pornographic content and harmful online games such as the Blue Whale challenge. The petitioner sought directions to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights and the Tamil Nadu Commission for Protection of Child Rights to require internet service providers to offer a “parental window” that would allow parents to regulate and monitor the content accessible to their children.
The petitioner argued that a combination of awareness programmes and parental control tools on devices could substantially curb children’s access to harmful online material.
The Bench noted that child rights commissions have a statutory duty to promote child rights literacy and safeguards across society. While acknowledging that some awareness initiatives were already in place, the court said these efforts were insufficient given the scale of the problem.
The court was also informed that intermediaries conduct periodic reviews under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, and that objectionable websites are blocked when brought to the notice of internet service providers. However, the judges observed that regulatory action alone was not enough and that effective control at the user end was equally necessary, which could be achieved through parental control mechanisms.
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Cong leader Pradeep Eshwar raises doubts over CJ Roy’s death, asks if he shot himself or was shot
Bengaluru: Congress leader and Chikballapura MLA Pradeep Eshwara raised doubts over the death of Businessman CJ Roy amid IT raids at his office in Bengaluru. He was addressing press persons in the city on Saturday.
“Did he really shoot himself using a pistol or did someone shoot him?,” Eshwar stated, raising suspicion.
C.J. Roy allegedly committed suicide on Friday. According to reports, the 57-year-old Confident Group Chairman allegedly shot himself using a pistol during Income Tax Raids at the Confident Group’s headquarters in Langford Town here.
Several media reports have claimed that Roy took the extreme over severe stress following repeated Income Tax raids on companies linked to him.
Speaking after a talent award ceremony for SSLC and PUC students held during the ongoing Kanakotsava celebrations in Kanakapura, he stated that there was no CCTV footage from the scene of the incident and that only Income Tax Department officials were present at the time. “We do not know what happened inside,” he added.
Furthermore, Eshwar alleged that as per his preliminary information, the Bharatiya Janata Party had forced Roy to find crores of rupees for elections. “They (BJP) were targeting Roy for refusing to give money. Our country cannot develop with such a corrupt BJP,” he said.
He also questioned the BJP’s silence over the issue, he asked, “Not only Ashokanna, Sunilanna, Yatnal, but also a monkey from Mysuru who keeps talking about everything. Why is no one speaking out about this?”
“The BJP is not allowing a common man to earn money. Roy has no debt, no problem. Income Tax officials have been harassing him for the past one month. If BJP is at the Centre, this harassment will continue,” he said, demanding an SIT investigation into the case.
SIT formed to probe the case
Meanwhile, Bengaluru Police on Saturday announced the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the death of C.J. Roy.
In a statement, police said that Bengaluru City Police Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh has ordered a comprehensive and meticulous investigation into the case and transferred the probe to the SIT. The team will be headed by Joint Commissioner of Police (West Zone) C. Vamshi Krishna.
