Children have fundamental right to access internet; no blanket ban: SC

The Supreme Court has declared the right to access and use the internet as a fundamental right of children and directed the Centre to create a national database for detection of sexually explicit visual content depicting minors on digital platforms and their removal.

The top court passed the order on a plea of NGO Just Rights for Children Alliance, in which it had taken note of an alarming increase in child sexual exploitation and abuse material (CSEAM) that was being circulated on social media platforms.

A bench of justices JB Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran, while referring to earlier decisions of the court, said that the internet is, without a doubt, the marketplace of ideas, creative expression and information, and its value is priceless, not merely in the information it holds, but in the access it affords to adults and children alike.

"In view of the foregoing, we have no hesitation in saying that the right to access and use the internet is a fundamental right of every individua