Karnataka could become the first Indian state to restrict social media access for children under 16, after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced the state’s proposal while presenting the state budget on March 6.
The proposed measure aims to address rising concerns over the impact of excessive smartphone and social media usage among minors. However, the Karnataka government has not yet finalised the list of social media platforms that would fall under the proposed restriction. In Australia for example, the government has banned children from accessing sites like Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube, Reddit, as well as streaming platforms such as Kick and Twitch.
YouTube Kids, Google Classroom and WhatsApp have not been included under those restrictions
Earlier, the Karnataka government had announced plans to constitute an expert committee to frame a policy on regulating digital content accessed by children, amid discussions on banning mobile phone use for those below 16 years.
The proposed committee will include experts from education, medicine, technology and mental health, along with officials from the Department of School Education and Literacy. Based on the committee’s recommendations, the government will take a final call on imposing a mobile phone ban, restricting social media access and regulating age-inappropriate digital content.
The government of Andhra Pradesh too had announced that it will consider such a ban. However, legal provisions under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act), already contain rules governing children’s data online.
Under Section 9 of the law, a data fiduciary (social media platforms are data fiduciaries) must obtain verifiable consent from a parent or lawful guardian before processing the personal data of a child. The accompanying Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025 further detail how such consent must be verified.
Rule 10 of the DPDP Rules, 2025 requires online platforms to adopt technical and organisational measures to ensure parental consent is obtained before processing a child’s personal data. Platforms must also verify that the person providing consent is an identifiable adult using reliable identity and age credentials issued by authorised entities, such as government-recognised identity systems or Digital Locker services.
Digital rights organisation Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) has sought further clarity on the Karnataka government’s proposal. The organisation noted that a policy announcement made in a budget speech raises several unanswered questions. These include whether the measure would require new state legislation, whether platforms would be required to implement age-verification systems that could create fresh privacy risks for users, and whether the restrictions would apply to educational or informational uses of the internet.
While acknowledging concerns about children’s safety and wellbeing online, IFF said it has consistently cautioned against blanket bans on social media access. According to IFF, such restrictions may fail to address deeper issues such as platform design choices that prioritise engagement over safety, gaps in data protection frameworks, and inadequate digital literacy infrastructure.
IFF also warned that age-based internet restrictions could have unintended social consequences in India. In particular, it highlighted the risk of gendered exclusion, noting that girls and young women already face significant barriers to accessing digital technologies. “Families and communities may use such restrictions to justify keeping girls offline permanently, deepening the digital gender divide rather than narrowing it,” the statement read.
Globally, several governments have begun introducing bans, age limits and parental consent requirements to regulate children’s access to social media platforms.
Authorities there evaluate platforms based on whether their primary purpose is enabling online social interaction, allowing users to interact with others and permitting users to post content.