The southern Indian state of Karnataka, which is home to the tech hub of Bengaluru, has decided to ban social media for anyone under 16 years old as of Friday.
India’s first state to answer global calls to regulate minors’ online activity.
The rising concerns about children’s increasing addiction to social media and their exposure to unrestricted internet access have sparked a worldwide discussion.
This led Australia to become the first country to impose a social media ban for kids back in December.
Also Read | Instagram Closes Australian Teens Account
Countries like Britain, Denmark, and Greece are also looking into this issue, and similar discussions are happening in other parts of India, which is one of the largest social media markets in the world.
First State To Block Social Media For Under 16s
State Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who is known by just one name, announced in his annual budget speech on Friday that, “To prevent the negative impacts of rising mobile usage on children, social media will be banned for those under 16 years old”.
He didn’t specify when this ban would actually start.
India ranks as the second-largest smartphone market globally, with 750 million devices and a billion internet users.
For Meta, India is its largest market, boasting the highest number of users on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp worldwide.
Bengaluru, often referred to as India’s Silicon Valley, hosts major global tech companies like Microsoft, Amazon, IBM, Dell, and Google. The neighboring state of Goa is also considering a similar ban, as mentioned by its IT minister in January.
Critics say kids can easily bypass social media age limits using fake IDs.
Leave a Reply