Growing calls in India to restrict children’s use of social media
A debate over banning social media for children under 16 is gaining momentum in India, with ministers in several states saying they are studying a law that recently came into force in Australia.
Ministers in at least two southern states said recently they were testing whether a ban would be effective in keeping children away from social media.
And last week, the Economic Survey – an annual document produced by a team led by India’s top economic adviser – recommended that the federal government consider age limits on children’s use of social media. The inquiry’s recommendations are not binding on the government but can inform policy decisions.
Experts warn, however, that such a ban would not be easy in India and could face legal challenges.
Australia recently became the first country in the world to ban most social media platforms from children under 16, forcing platforms to verify the age of users and disable the accounts of underage users.
The move sparked criticism from social media platforms that Australia’s internet regulator told the BBC last monthcame to the diet “kicking and screaming – reluctantly.”
Last week, lawmakers in the French lower house approved a bill this would prohibit access to social networks to those under 15 years old. It still needs to be passed by the Senate.
The UK is also considering a ban.
In India, LSK Devarayalu, an MP for the regional Telugu Desam Party – which governs the state of Andhra Pradesh and is a key part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s federal coalition – last week proposed a bill to ban children under 16 from using social media.
As a private member’s bill, the proposal does not reflect government policy and is unlikely to become law – but it could shape parliamentary debates.
Separately, the Andhra Pradesh government has set up a group of ministers to study global regulatory frameworks and invited major platforms, including Meta, X, Google and ShareChat, for consultations. The companies have not yet commented on the invitation.
Last week, state information technology minister Nara Lokesh said the that children were “indulging in incessant use” of social media, affecting their attention span and their education.
“We will ensure that social media becomes a safer space and reduce its harmful effects, especially for women and children,” he added.
Other states have expressed interest in similar measures.
Goa Tourism and IT Minister Rohan Khaunte said the state was studying whether a ban could be implemented, adding that more details would follow.
Priyank Kharge, IT minister of Karnataka – home of the city of Bengaluru, known as India’s Silicon Valley – told the state assembly that the government was discussing responsible use of artificial intelligence and social media, and spoke of a “digital detoxification” program involving about 300,000 students and 100,000 teachers that the government launched in partnership with Meta.
Kharge, however, did not say whether legislation was being considered or which age groups might be affected.
But it would be complicated to enforce bans at the state level, said Nikhil Pahwa, a digital rights activist. “While companies can infer users’ locations from IP addresses, these systems are often inaccurate. When state borders are very close, you can end up creating conflicts if one state bans social media use and another doesn’t.”
He also highlights the challenges of age verification, saying the problem is not unique to India. “Age verification is not simple. To comply with such bans, companies would have to actually verify every individual using every service on the internet,” Pahwa told the BBC.
Even in Australia, some children told the BBC they were getting around the ban by use fake birthdays to create new accounts.
According to Prateek Waghre, public policy expert and program manager at Tech Global Institute, enforcement would also depend on the cooperation of platforms and intermediaries.
“In theory, location can be inferred through the IP addresses of Internet service providers or technology companies, but it is not yet clear whether companies operating such applications will comply or challenge these instructions in court,” he says.
Even though lawmakers have identified a real problem, a ban seems like too narrow a response, experts say.
A recent study by a nonprofit that surveyed 1,277 Indian teens, suggests that age-based restrictions and verification systems may face additional hurdles in India’s digital landscape.
Many accounts, he says, are created with the help of family members or friends and are not linked to personal email addresses, complicating the assumptions of individual ownership that underpin age verification systems.
While some Indian parents welcome the idea of an internet ban, others point to a deeper problem.
“Parents themselves do not devote enough time to their children and hand them phones to keep them occupied. The problem starts there,” says Jitender Yadav, a resident of Delhi, who has two daughters aged eight and four.
“I’m not sure a ban on social media is helpful. Because unless parents devote enough time to their children or learn how to keep them engaged in creative ways, they will always find ways around these bans,” he says.