While Andhra has proposed banning social media for children below 13 years within the next 90 days, Karnataka has said it will ban children below 16 years from using social media. Last month, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had said the Centre was discussing age-based restrictions with social media companies. French President Emmanuel Macron had called on India to consider banning social media for children during his keynote address at the India-AI Impact Summit last month. Top government sources said while considering a law for social media usage restrictions, the government’s “first principle would be citizen safety”. “A central level law that lays down rules for social media access can be carried out uniformly.

Source: Indian Express March 08, 2026 06:30 UTC