Vijayawada/Bengaluru, March 7, IPU Media News Update: The Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka state governments have announced a ban on children using social media. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu announced in the Legislative Assembly on Friday that children under the age of 13 will be banned from using social media in his state. He said that this will be implemented within 90 days. He said that these steps have been taken to prevent the ill effects of social media from affecting children. The AP Chief Minister said that he will think about banning children from using social media even for 13-16 years. On the other hand, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah announced in the Assembly on Friday that children under the age of 16 will be banned from using social media in his state.

Later, in a media conference, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah said that children under the age of 16 can have a mobile phone, but they should not use social media. To a media question on how this will be implemented, the Karnataka CM said that a program is being prepared to prevent children from using social media, and once it is finalized, he will reveal how it will be implemented. With this, AP and Karnataka have become the first two states in the country to ban children from using social media.

The states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have taken these steps at a time when various countries in the world are considering banning children from using social media. However, instead of completely banning children from using social media, social media experts suggest that it should be regulated. Experts explain that they also have the opportunity to learn many good things in the digital world through online. Parents are advised to monitor children when they use social media. Experts have suggested that children should not share personal matters and sensitive information with others online. Some parents and psychiatrists, however, are cheering the decision by the Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka state governments.

Several countries have taken direct action to restrict or ban children’s access to social media due to concerns about mental health, addiction and exposure to harmful content. While some countries have bans on children under 16 using social media, France, Indonesia and various US states are implementing or considering stricter age-verification measures and parental consent requirements.

Key steps taken by some countries around the world to prevent children from using social media:

*Australia: Australia has imposed the world’s first under-16 ban on major platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. Fines of up to AUD million are imposed for non-compliance.

*France: Lawmakers have passed a bill making it mandatory for children under 15 to use social media with parental consent, potentially leading to a complete ban in France.

* Indonesia: Indonesia on Friday issued rules banning children under 16 from having accounts on popular social media platforms. The latest rules will prevent children under 16 from creating new accounts or maintaining existing ones on platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, X and gaming platform Roblox.

* Malaysia: Plans to implement a social media ban for users under 16 by 2026.

* Europe & UK: While the UK is negotiating a ban on children under 16, countries such as Spain, Slovenia and Italy are pushing ahead with legislation to restrict social media access, while Germany requires parental consent for minors between the ages of 13 and 16.

* United States: Various states in the US have passed laws requiring parental consent, and some states like California have restricted minors from accessing addictive feeds and late-night notifications.

** There are many obstacles to implementing a ban on social media.**

The governments of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have announced that they will ban children under 16 from using social media. But they have not revealed the details of how they will implement it. But many technical challenges (obstacles) in implementing a social media ban are now being discussed. There are doubts about how the age of the child will be determined. Since there is no guarantee that everyone will tell their real age, experts believe that many changes will have to be made for age verification when creating an account. Many experts are questioning whether it is possible to stop accounts being created with false details and not opening them. Social media analysts are also questioning how to prevent such technical problems by changing the location of a VPN and accessing social media.

— M Venkata T Reddy, News Editor And Investigative Journalist,