Karnataka plans to ban social media for children under 16, and Andhra Pradesh for those under 13.
- Economic Survey 2025-26 had already flagged digital addiction as a key threat to youth and recommended age-based access limits and platform-level age verification.
Significance of Age-based Bans
- Protecting child mental health: Rising concerns about digital addiction, cyberbullying, and exposure to harmful online content.
- Excessive screen time: Uncontrolled smartphone and social media use affects children’s cognitive and social development.
- Promoting healthier lifestyles: Complementary initiatives encourage reading and offline activities among school children.
Challenges
- Jurisdictional Barriers: Regulating the internet is exclusively the Union government's domain under the Information Technology Act, 2000 raising constitutional and legal hurdles.
- Enforcement: Age verification and monitoring of users remain challenging without robust age-verification tools and strict compliance from platforms.
- Rights & Pushback: Critics argue bans infringe on children’s rights to information, expression, and participation, advocating for digital literacy over punitive measures.
- Industry concerns: Bans could push minors toward less regulated or unsafe online spaces.
Other nations with similar restrictions
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