Supreme Court Notices Centre, Meta On PIL Against Child Addiction To Algorithms

Supreme Court Issues Notice to Centre, Meta on PIL Over Child Addiction to Algorithms

The Supreme Court of India on Wednesday, November 4, issued notice to the Union government and Meta on a public interest litigation seeking a regulatory framework to protect children from algorithmic addiction and predatory harms on social media platforms. The order was passed by Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V. Mohana in Sreerupa Chowdhury v. Union of India and Others.

Facebook and Instagram, operated by Meta, are the platforms named in the petition. Directions are sought from the court to the government and regulatory authorities for oversight of systems that select and promote content for young users. Recommender technology is treated in the plea as the central area requiring scrutiny. The case has been filed as a public interest litigation in India concerning the design and operation of these systems.

Audit, age checks sought

One direction sought is an audit of algorithmic systems, described in the case as recommender systems, with the functioning of such systems to be examined from the standpoint of child safety. Enforcement of effective age-verification mechanisms is the second direction sought. The plea asks that the mechanisms for identifying young users be made workable on the platforms. Implementation of safeguards for young users is the third direction in the petition. Together the prayers ask for a framework for social media regulation in India that addresses addiction-related risks to children.

No ruling has been made by the bench on whether any of the directions should be granted, the court having sought responses to the petition without deciding the merits of regulation. The question of government regulation of social media in this setting remains undecided. For now, the only step taken by the court is the issuance of notice calling for responses. The case will proceed after the responses are received.