India could become the next major test case for age-based social media bans, as states consider Australian-style restrictions on children’s access to platforms amid a growing global regulatory movement.
The initiative has begun at the state level, with the western state of Goa becoming the latest state to consider whether to ban children under 16 from social media platforms. “Australia has enacted legislation to ensure a ban on social media for children under the age of 16,” Goa’s IT Minister Rohan Kaunte said this week. “People in our department have already pulled those particular papers. If possible, we study them. [will] The use of social media by children under 16 is also prohibited. ”
Like Goa, the southern state of Andhra Pradesh is also considering adopting the Australian approach. Earlier this month, the state’s IT and Education Minister Nala Lokesh hinted at the move, saying authorities were studying Australian law.
“I think we need strong legislation,” Lokesh said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.
The Andhra Pradesh government has already constituted a group of ministers to consider whether restrictions or bans on minors’ access to social media platforms are legally and practically possible. The panel is chaired by Lokesh and includes key ministers.
In addition to India’s two states, the issue has also drawn judicial scrutiny, with the Madras High Court in December urging India’s federal government to consider Australian-style restrictions, highlighting how concerns about children’s online safety are driving regulatory debate beyond parliament.
Any move to restrict children’s access to social media in India would have serious implications for global technology companies, for which the South Asian country is a key growth market. Government estimates put India’s internet user base at more than 1 billion, the majority of whom came online at a young age, and the country is at the center of the user and advertising strategies of platforms like Meta, Google and X.
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A Meta spokesperson said the company shares lawmakers’ goal of creating a “safe and positive online experience for young people,” but argued that parents, not governments, should decide which apps their teens use. “Governments considering bans should be careful not to direct teens to less secure, unregulated sites or logout experiences that bypass important protections, such as the default protections we offer on Instagram teen accounts,” the spokesperson said.
The passing of the Online Safety Amendment (Minimum Age for Social Media) Act 2024, which will be approved by Parliament in November 2024 and come into force in December 2025, is already revealing enforcement challenges for platforms.
Last year, Meta began notifying Australian teens that their accounts would be closed, suggesting that accurately determining a user’s age is difficult, especially when it’s not always true when signing up. The law includes Twitch, but excludes Pinterest, Discord, GitHub, Roblox, and Steam, among others, reigniting concerns about digital age verification systems that require sensitive data and pose privacy and security risks.
Australia’s move is attracting attention outside India, with governments in Denmark, France, Spain, Indonesia, Malaysia and other countries considering similar restrictions.
Kazim Rizvi, founding director of New Delhi-based think tank The Dialogue, told TechCrunch that while there is increasing pressure to regulate children’s social media use, internet governance is subject to federal law, meaning states cannot amend national laws such as the Information Technology Act or the Digital Personal Data Protection Act. Therefore, some states, including Andhra Pradesh, are likely to seek support from the central government, but the outcome remains uncertain, he added.
Arajita Rana, a partner at corporate law firm AZB & Partners, echoed Rizvi’s views on the limits of national action, saying that while an Australian-style ban would be unprecedented in a market of India’s size, sweeping restrictions risk pushing children away from regulated platforms and into unmonitored online spaces, potentially undermining the very safety goals policymakers are trying to achieve.
India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, passed in August 2023, includes special protections for children’s data, requiring verifiable parental consent before processing personal data of under-18s, and prohibiting tracking, behavioral monitoring, and targeted advertising to minors. However, these prescribed operational rules will be phased in by 2027, giving platforms time to implement the necessary safeguards.
Google, Snap and X did not respond to requests for comment. We also contacted India’s IT Ministry, but did not receive a response.
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