India Considers a Social Media Ban for Children
As India debates banning social media use for children under the age of 16, attention has turned to Australia, which has introduced one of the world’s most comprehensive regulations in this area. The Australian regulation, which came into effect on December 10, 2025, aims to prevent children under 16 from holding accounts on major platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat, and X. Technology companies that fail to comply with the rules may face fines of up to approximately 49.5 million Australian dollars.
However, the initial results of the policy suggest that a ban alone may not be sufficient. According to research conducted by Australia’s online safety regulator, more than 80 percent of children aged 10 to 15 continued using social media even three months after the ban took effect. This finding has strengthened criticism that age-verification systems can be easily bypassed and that children can continue accessing platforms through alternative accounts.
India currently has no nationwide regulation that completely prohibits children from accessing social media. However, existing data protection legislation requires verifiable parental consent before the personal information of users under the age of 18 can be processed.
For this reason, instead of adopting a model based solely on restricting access, experts recommend that India combine stronger age-verification systems with greater accountability for technology companies, parental guidance, and digital literacy education in schools.