Why Social Media’s Impact on Young Users Is Becoming a Policy Issue in India

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The debate over restricting children’s access to social media has moved into sharper focus in India after this year’s Economic Survey flagged rising concerns over excessive screen time among minors and a ruling-alliance lawmaker signaled a push for legislative action.

India’s Economic Survey 2025–26, tabled in Parliament on 29 January, warned that compulsive online behavior among children and adolescents is emerging as a public health concern. 

The Survey linked prolonged social media use to anxiety, attention deficits and weaker academic outcomes, and urged policymakers to consider age-appropriate access, stronger safeguards, and clearer accountability for platforms.

Separately, a member of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has moved to translate the debate into law. On 31 January, Reuters reported that L.S.K. Devarayalu, a first-term Lok Sabha member from Andhra Pradesh belonging to the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), had drafted a private member’s bill proposing to bar children under 16 from accessing social media platforms.

Devarayalu told Reuters the draft would require platforms to verify users’ ages and deactivate accounts found to belong to minors, shifting responsibility from parents to technology companies.

While private member’s bills in India rarely become law, they are often used to flag emerging policy priorities, bringing parliamentary attention to issues that have largely been debated outside the legislature.

States Look to Overseas Models

Signals from some state governments have amplified the national discussion.

In Andhra Pradesh, IT and education minister Nara Lokesh said on 30 January that the state government was studying Australia’s decision to ban under-16s from major social media platforms and would consult companies including Meta, Google, X and ShareChat before deciding on any local measures.

Lokesh cited concerns over student mental health, screen addiction, and academic performance.

In Goa, IT minister Rohan Khaunte has said the state is examining international approaches to regulating children’s access to social media amid parental complaints about excessive usage. However, no formal proposal has been announced.

Neither state has published draft legislation, but their public statements have helped push the issue from parental concern into the policy arena.

Global Precedents Sharpen Debate

India’s renewed discussion follows a wave of international regulation aimed at curbing children’s use of social media.

Australia enacted legislation in November 2024 requiring social media platforms to take reasonable steps to prevent children under 16 from holding accounts, with civil penalties of up to A$49.5 million for non-compliance. The age-restriction obligations came into force in December 2025.

In France, the National Assembly approved a bill on 26 January to ban children under 15 from using social media amid concerns over mental health and online harm. The bill still needs Senate approval and formal enactment, with the government targeting enforcement from September 2026, aligned with the start of the school year.

Malaysia has announced plans to prohibit under-16s from opening social media accounts from 2026, raising the minimum age to 16 and signaling that platforms will need to implement electronic age-verification mechanisms under new online safety rules.

Singapore has stopped short of imposing a blanket ban, opting instead for a Code of Practice for app distribution services that came into force in March 2025, requiring designated platforms to strengthen protections for minors, including age-assurance measures. 

Indian lawmakers and officials have cited such measures as evidence that global momentum is building toward tighter regulation of children’s social media use, Reuters reported.

Experts Split on Outright Bans

Mental health professionals and digital policy experts in India remain divided on whether outright bans are the right response.

“Social media is already part of everyday life, and banning it outright often pushes users underground rather than making it safer,” said Prerna Kohli, founder of mental-health platform MindTribe. “Stronger age verification, clear time limits, and meaningful parental controls will work better than banning social media outright.”

Kohli added that platforms need to assume greater responsibility. “Right now, too much of that burden falls on parents alone, which isn’t realistic,” she said.

Cyber psychologist Nirali Bhatia, founder of the cyberpsychology platform CyberBAAP, supports restrictions for younger users. “We are restricting social media, not the internet,” she said. “I don’t see the ban as a developmental threat.”

Bhatia said prolonged exposure during pre-teen and early teenage years disrupts emotional regulation and self-worth. “Self-worth becomes externally validated rather than internally grounded in confidence,” she said.

Digital policy analyst Nikhil Pahwa, founder and editor of tech policy publication MediaNama, questioned whether a single cut-off age was appropriate. “Why not ban it for children below 13 or 14 years of age?” he said, arguing that teenagers gradually acquire agency as they explore identity and social relationships.

“Platforms have shifted from friend-focused feeds to popularity-driven algorithms that reward time spent,” Pahwa said. “That cements addictive behavior irresponsibly.”

What Existing Law Already Permits

India does not currently ban minors from social media, but existing law already gives regulators leverage, experts said.

Under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, platforms must obtain verifiable parental consent before processing the personal data of a child, defined as a user under 18.

Under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, platforms must obtain verifiable parental consent before processing the personal data of users under 18. In principle, this requires platforms to distinguish between children and adults at sign-up, though enforcement remains uneven and the accompanying rules rely partly on self-disclosure.

“Children’s online safety is now being treated as a core public interest issue,” said Jaspreet Singh, a partner at advisory firm Grant Thornton Bharat. He said responsibility was shifting from users to platforms, with fines and product redesigns increasingly used to drive compliance.

Singh cautioned that intrusive age-verification systems could invite legal challenges around privacy and free expression, particularly in a country with more than 900 million internet users, suggesting the next phase of the debate would hinge on how far platforms can be compelled to police age without overreaching.