{"id":129475,"date":"2026-10-18T13:01:38","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T07:31:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=129475"},"modified":"2026-10-18T13:01:38","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T07:31:38","slug":"right-to-internet-access","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/right-to-internet-access\/","title":{"rendered":"Right to Internet Access &#8211; Supreme Court Ruling on Children\u2019s Digital Rights"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Right to Internet Access Latest News<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On October 15, 2026, the Supreme Court recognised the right to access and use the internet as a fundamental right under <\/span><b>Articles 21 and 19(1)(a)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, rejecting blanket restrictions on children&#8217;s internet access as a solution to online abuse.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Constitutional Basis of Internet Access<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Supreme Court, in a Bench comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K. Vinod Chandran, held that the right to access and use the internet is a fundamental right under <\/span><b><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/article-21\/\" target=\"_blank\">Article 21<\/a> read with <a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/article-19-of-indian-constitution\/\" target=\"_blank\">Article 19(1)(a)<\/a><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of the Constitution.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Article 21:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Protects the right to life and personal liberty.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Article 19(1)(a):<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Guarantees freedom of speech and expression, which can be exercised through digital platforms.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Article 19(1)(g):<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Protects the freedom to practise any profession or carry on any occupation, trade or business, including through the internet, subject to constitutional restrictions.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The internet has become an important medium for education, information, communication and creative expression.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Its significance is particularly high for children in remote areas, where digital platforms may provide access to learning opportunities that are otherwise unavailable.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The judgment also builds on the Supreme Court&#8217;s recognition of digital access as an intrinsic component of the right to life in <\/span><b><i>Pragya Prasun v. Union of India<\/i><\/b><b> (2025)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Judicial Evolution of Digital Rights<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The constitutional status of internet access has evolved through judicial interpretation.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Anuradha Bhasin v. Union of India (2020)<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Supreme Court held that freedom of speech and expression and the freedom to carry on trade or business through the internet are constitutionally protected under Articles 19(1)(a) and 19(1)(g).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, it left open the question of whether internet access itself constituted a fundamental right.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Pragya Prasun v. Union of India (2025)<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Court recognised digital access as an intrinsic component of Article 21 and emphasised the State&#8217;s responsibility to develop inclusive digital ecosystems that serve both privileged and marginalised sections of society.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Supreme Court ruling of October 2026<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Court expressly recognised the right to access and use the internet as a fundamental right under Article 21 read with Article 19(1)(a).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It also clarified that protecting children from online exploitation does not justify imposing a blanket ban on their internet access.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Child Safety and the Limits of Blanket Restrictions<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The case arose from a petition by the NGO Just Rights for Children Alliance concerning the continued availability of Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Material (CSEAM) on social media platforms.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Court held that the primary responsibility lies with those who create, circulate or seek such material and with intermediaries that fail to detect and remove it.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Denying children internet access because of these failures would shift the burden from the wrongdoers to the victims.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Concerns with blanket restrictions<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Questionable effectiveness:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Children may bypass restrictions and migrate to unregulated platforms that expose them to greater risks.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Reduced reporting:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Fear of punishment for accessing prohibited platforms may discourage children from reporting online threats, grooming or exploitation.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Privacy risks:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Age-verification systems may require the collection and monitoring of sensitive personal data, creating risks of surveillance and misuse.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Digital exclusion:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Broad restrictions may limit access to education, information, creative expression and other legitimate online opportunities.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Court therefore considered blanket restrictions disproportionate, while acknowledging that age-appropriate safeguards remain necessary.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Safeguards for Children in the Digital Environment<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The judgment favoured targeted and proportionate safeguards rather than a complete denial of internet access.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Parental oversight:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Encourage parental consent, guidance and supervision for children&#8217;s access to social media platforms.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Dedicated child mode:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Develop child-specific accounts with age-appropriate privacy and safety settings.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Privacy by default:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Make children&#8217;s accounts private by default and restrict contact or messages from unknown adults.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Content moderation:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Strengthen moderation of advertisements and content accessible to children.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Detection and removal:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Improve technological tools used by intermediaries to detect and remove CSEAM.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Digital literacy:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Teach children to recognise online risks, follow safe practices and seek help without fear of reprisal.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Court also recognised that the government may restrict children&#8217;s access to specific categories of services that are inherently harmful, such as adult-content websites.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Such restrictions must be distinguished from a blanket ban on internet access.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Responsibilities of the State and Digital Platforms<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Protecting children online requires coordinated action by government authorities, digital intermediaries, parents and educational institutions.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Supreme Court sought information from the Union government on the technological tools used by intermediaries to detect and remove CSEAM and on the feasibility of deploying such tools across the industry.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Effective digital governance requires platforms to improve content moderation, respond promptly to reports of exploitation and adopt safety-by-design principles.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Government regulation should establish clear accountability standards while protecting privacy and legitimate online expression.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The State must also promote inclusive digital access so that safety measures do not disproportionately disadvantage children from rural, economically weaker or otherwise marginalised backgrounds.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source:<\/b><strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/v\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">IE<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/india\/internet-is-fundamental-right-of-all-even-children-supreme-court\/articleshow\/135020333.cms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">TOI<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Examine the Supreme Court\u2019s recognition of the right to internet access as a fundamental right, its constitutional basis, online child safety concerns and the need for proportionate digital regulation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":129512,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[60,10965,22,59],"class_list":["post-129475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","tag-mains-articles","tag-right-to-internet-access","tag-upsc-current-affairs","tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","no-featured-image-padding"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129475"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129475\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":129522,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129475\/revisions\/129522"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}