India’s southern state of Karnataka plans to prohibit children under the age of 16 from using social media platforms, according to an announcement made Friday by chief minister Siddaramaiah during the state’s annual budget speech.
The proposal places Karnataka among a growing number of governments considering limits on young people’s access to online platforms amid ongoing concerns about the impact of social media on children and teenagers.
“To prevent the adverse effects on children from the use of mobile phones, the use of social media will be prohibited for children under the age of 16,” Siddaramaiah said during the speech.
The chief minister did not outline how the restriction would be enforced.
Two sources from separate technology companies told TechCrunch that the Karnataka government did not conduct a consultation process with the technology sector before announcing the plan.
Growing Global Push To Restrict Youth Access
Several governments around the world have begun exploring policies aimed at limiting children’s exposure to social media platforms.
The debate has focused on concerns that services such as TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram may negatively affect young users or vulnerable populations.
Australia became the first country to introduce a nationwide ban on social media use for teenagers in December last year.
Other countries are now considering comparable restrictions.
Indonesia announced Friday that it intends to restrict access for users under 16 to what it described as “high-risk platforms,” including YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, and Roblox.
Malaysia has also indicated that it is studying possible limits on social media access for younger users.
Debate Expands Within India
Discussions about restricting social media use by minors have also gained attention within India.
Officials in the states of Goa and Andhra Pradesh recently said they are examining similar policies.
In December, the Madras High Court urged India’s federal government to consider restrictions similar to Australia’s approach.
The following month, India’s chief economic adviser V. Anantha Nageswaran suggested age-based limits on social media platforms, describing them as “predatory.”
Technology Companies And Experts Raise Concerns
Technology companies have expressed reservations about broad restrictions.
A Meta spokesperson told TechCrunch the company supports measures that help parents manage teenagers’ use of apps but warned that bans could produce unintended effects.
“Governments considering bans should be careful not to push teens toward less safe, unregulated sites, or logged-out experiences that bypass important protections — like the default safeguards we offer in Instagram’s Teen Accounts,” the spokesperson said.
Meta also noted that teenagers typically use around 40 different applications each week, suggesting that restrictions focused on only a few platforms may have limited impact.
Legal experts have also questioned whether an individual Indian state has the authority to enforce a ban.
Aparajita Bharti, founding partner at technology and public policy consulting firm The Quantum Hub, said the proposal currently appears to be more of a policy signal than a detailed regulatory framework.
“It is unclear whether the Karnataka state government has the legislative authority to undertake such measures,” Bharti said.
She added that policymakers should consider India’s particular circumstances, including shared device usage within families and unequal internet access, rather than adopting policies from other countries without adjustments.
Legal And Privacy Questions Around Enforcement
Kazim Rizvi, founding director of the New Delhi think tank The Dialogue, said most internet regulation in India falls under federal jurisdiction.
“A state can certainly articulate the policy objective of child safety, but a binding, platform-facing ban would be much harder for a state to sustain on its own without running into Centre-State and constitutional questions,” Rizvi said.
Digital rights organizations have also raised concerns about the practical effects of such restrictions.
The Internet Freedom Foundation said that enforcing a broad ban could require large-scale age verification systems, which could create new privacy risks.
The group also warned that restricting children’s access to social media might limit their ability to access information or express themselves online.
Advocates have also raised concerns that restrictions could deepen India’s digital gender divide if families use the rules to keep girls offline.
“Child safety online demands serious, evidence-based policy, not headline-driven prohibitions,” the organization said.
Featured image credits: Needpix
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