India Must Act: Regulating Social Media Use Among Children

Australia sparked a global policy debate last week byrestricting social mediaaccess for children under 16. While critics fret over the practicalities of the enforcement, Canberra has accurately diagnosed a crisis that transcends borders. It is time for India, which has been deliberating this issue on the periphery, to move from low-key discussion to decisive regulation. The anxiety over digital addiction in general, and among children specifically, is the one issue that unites Indian parents across the political, economic and social spectrum. There is already much work being done in this space, for instance, by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), which sits under the Ministry of Women and Child Development. Consider the NCPCR’spandemic-era studyof 5,811 participants across six states. It found that 60% of children were using phones—often their parents’ devices—for instant messaging. More alarming was the rampant circumvention of age limits. The study revealed that 38% of 10-year-olds possessed Facebook accounts and 24% were on Instagram, despite the platforms’ theoretical minimum age of 13. The costs of this exposure are being paid in cognitive and physical health. Nearly 37% of children reported frequently reduced concentration levels, and 24% admitted to using smartphones in bed, ahabit directly linkedto sleep disorders and anxiety. The NCPCR also met with representatives of social media platforms in November last year in the context of child sexual abuse material and emphasised the need for enhanced safety features on social media platforms; with a focus to keep children safe from predators and explicit content. A separate study by the Amity Institute of Forensic Sciences published by the World Journal of Clinical Pediatrics corroborates this, linking excessive scrolling to stress, anxiety and depression. While some of these studies are slightly old, the context could have hardly improved. Like many countries, India already has the legislative backdrop to make a move. The IT Rules of 2021 obligate platforms to curb harmful content, and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act of 2023 explicitly prohibits data fiduciaries from tracking children ortargeting them with ads. But these are more like guardrails; and the current crisis requires a gate. The Government has also proven it can act swiftly against digital harm when it chooses. InAugust, the governmentcracked down on ‘real money games’, effectively curbing an online betting industry that even attractedbillions in venture capital. The Government correctly prioritised social welfare over investor returns, saving countless youth from gambling away their—or their parents’ income. The move was executed with rare clinical precision and speed involving both houses of the Parliament. The challenge now is to apply that same resolve to social media. Emulating Australia’s legislative ban is one path, but technology offers others. China, for instance, employs a ‘minor mode’ linked to identity verification, which restricts children aged 8 to 16 tojust one hour of daily access. While Beijing is not the most appropriate model for governance for a democracy like India, the efficacy of its technical controls is undeniable. A prudent Indian policy would likely blend these approaches: strict age-gating technology, school-level bans and awareness, and parental education. If there is any lingering doubt about the necessity of restriction, one needs only look at the household rules of Silicon Valley’s elite. Bill Gates, Tim Cook, and Peter Thiel have all famously limited screen time for children in their families. And for a long time. Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple until his death in 2012, revealed in a 2011 New York Times interview that he prohibited his kids from using the newly-released iPad. "We limit how much technology our kids use at home," Jobs told reporter Nick Bilton. Last week, YouTube CEO Neal Mohanjoined the chorus, telling Time magazine that his children’s use of media platforms is controlled and restricted. “We do limit their time on YouTube and other platforms and other forms of media,” he said. If the architects of the algorithm won’t let their own children consume it unchecked, why should India’s parents be expected to? Global examples show tighter child online rules—should India also rethink how it protects young digital users?