New Delhi: The Supreme Court has declared the right to access and use the internet a fundamental right under Articles 21 and 19(1)(a) of the constitution.The order, significant in itself, assumes more importance in the light of the authorities’ October 10 shutdown of mobile internet across Central Delhi and at eight makeshift detention centres where thousands were taken and moored.LiveLaw reports that a bench of Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice K. Vinod Chandran said that every individual, including a child, has the right to internet.The report quotes them as saying:“..we have no hesitation in saying that the right to access and use the internet is a fundamental right of every individual under Article 21 read with Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. Our children, irrespective of their age enjoy the same rights, and to deny the same altogether would be as absurd as saying children below a certain age do not have a conscience worth protecting or a freedom of speech worth expressing. The safety of our children and their freedom are not at odds with each other. Our children are entitled to both.”The bench was issuing directions to strengthen mechanisms for detecting and removing child sexual exploitation and abuse material (CSEAM) from social media platforms and elsewhere online.The court described the internet as a marketplace of ideas, creative expression and information,. It said the right to freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a) also includes “the right to know and to receive and impart information and ideas,” according to the LiveLaw report.The bench also quoted the Supreme Court’s own 2020 judgment in Anuradha Bhasin v. Union of India which noted that “the freedom of speech and expression and the freedom to carry on any trade or business through the medium of the internet is constitutionally protected as a fundamental right under Article 19(1)(a) and 19(1)(g) of the Constitution.”As the report noted, the court refrained from expressing any view on whether the right to access the internet is, by itself, a fundamental right.India is among nations in the world with the largest number of internet shutdowns, with Jammu and Kashmir especially affected.