NEW DELHI, Jan 31, 2026, 18:50 IST
- A Modi ally has proposed a bill to bar under-16s from holding social media accounts, shifting age checks onto platforms.
- The push lands as India debates “digital addiction” and several states weigh curbs for children.
- Australia and France have moved on similar limits; major platforms have not commented on the Indian proposal.
Lawmaker L.S.K. Devarayalu, an ally of Prime Minister Modi, has proposed a bill to ban social media accounts for under-16s in India, a move that could hit Meta and YouTube in their biggest market. (Reuters)
The timing is not accidental. India has around a billion internet users and no national minimum age for social media access, and pressure is building on politicians to show they are taking online harms seriously.
Devarayalu is pitching the ban as both a child-safety measure and a data issue. He has argued that heavy use by children is feeding addiction risks, while Indian user data is helping firms build advanced AI, or artificial intelligence, systems abroad.
The 15-page draft says no one under 16 should be allowed to “create, maintain, or hold” a social media account and that platforms would have to verify a user’s age — in plain terms, check that a person signing up is old enough — and disable accounts held by minors. “We are asking that the entire onus of ensuring users’ age be placed on the social media platforms,” Devarayalu said. (Moneycontrol)
It is a private member’s bill, meaning it was introduced by a lawmaker rather than a federal minister. In India, such bills can still trigger debate and shape later government proposals, even if they do not move quickly on their own.
State governments are also edging into the fight. Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Goa have begun discussions on curbing children’s social media use, moves that could affect around 12 million minors, The Independent reported. Andhra Pradesh IT minister Nara Lokesh said the “situation cannot be ignored any longer”. (The Independent)
The national government’s chief economic adviser, V. Anantha Nageswaran, also urged age-based limits in India’s annual economic survey on Thursday. “Platforms should be made responsible for enforcing age verification and age-appropriate defaults,” he wrote, calling social media firms “predatory” in how they keep users online; DataReportal estimates put India at roughly 500 million YouTube users, 403 million Facebook users and 481 million Instagram users. (Reuters)
Meta, Alphabet and X did not respond to requests for comment on the bill, and India’s IT ministry also did not answer questions. Meta has said it supports laws that strengthen parental oversight, but has warned that bans can push teens toward “less safe, unregulated sites.”
Overseas, governments are already testing hard restrictions. Australia’s under-16 ban took effect in December, with penalties that can reach A$49.5 million for companies that fail to block minors; France’s National Assembly has backed a ban for under-15s and Britain has said it is considering an Australia-style approach. (Reuters)
But India’s path is still unclear. Any nationwide ban would hinge on age checks at enormous scale, and opponents of strict limits argue teenagers can dodge rules by supplying false details, while platforms warn that outright bans may move children onto harder-to-police corners of the internet.
