In a new attempt toward monitoring online, the bench of Chief Justice of India CJI Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi suggested that the court will look into ways to better monitor online content in the country.

One of the key suggestions included using the Aadhar Card for age verification for viewing more mature or explicit content. Justice Kant said, “See the issue is warning is given and the show starts. But by the time you decide not to watch, it starts. The warning can be for a few seconds...then perhaps ask for your Aadhaar card etc. So that your age can be verified and then the program starts. Of course these are illustrative suggestions...a combination of different experts...someone from judiciary and media can be there also...Let something come up on pilot basis and if it clogs free speech and expression, it can be looked at then. We need to build a responsible society and once that happens, most of the problems will be solved.”

Laws against demeaning disability and ‘anti national’ content

Apart from explicit content, the bench also discussed the feasibility of strict laws against content that demean disability. “Why don't you think of a very stringent law which is on the same lines like SC/ST Act...where there is punishment if you demean them. On the same lines,” CJI Kant asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta expressing concern while discussing a plea submitted by a popular YouTuber.

In the same vein, the court also explored the possibility of having checks in place to tackle content deemed anti-national, as Justice Joymalya Bagchi questioned if self-regulation is enough to help in the matter. He said, “When content is anti-national or disruptive of society structure...will self regulation suffice? What is the statutory foundation? Regulation has come from something which is under challenge. Those regulations cover the intermediary also. The difficulty is response time and by the time government responds the things have gone viral with billion views.”

Questions were also raised about the ambiguity over what can be termed as ‘anti-national’, Justice Bagchi asserted, “We examine free speech in terms of regulated rights. Of course, there cannot be a government authority to decide whether a publication is anti-national or not. But if it is per se of such nature which affects unity, integrity and sovereignty of the nation.”

While the discussion took place, no concrete decision has been taken yet.