NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court of India has firmly rejected a plea to impose a ban on social media usage for children under the age of 13. In a decisive ruling, the bench of Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih stated that this issue falls within the realm of policy-making and should be addressed by Parliament through legislation.
The court made it clear that they are not willing to entertain the petition as the relief sought pertains to policy matters. However, they did grant the petitioner the freedom to submit a representation to the appropriate authority.
The plea, brought forth by the Zep Foundation, called for the implementation of a stringent age verification system, including biometric authentication, to regulate children’s access to social media platforms. Additionally, the petition urged for strict penalties to be imposed on social media platforms that fail to comply with regulations aimed at protecting children.
