NEW DELHI — L.S.K. Devarayalu, a lawmaker allied with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, proposed a private member’s bill Friday that would bar children younger than 16 from holding social media accounts. Supporters of the India teen social media ban say it targets digital addiction and would force platforms to verify users’ ages and disable underage accounts, Jan. 31, 2026.
What the India teen social media ban proposal would do
The 15-page “Social Media (Age Restrictions and Online Safety) Bill” would require companies to confirm a user’s age and shut accounts held by people younger than 16, according to a report on the draft bill. The text, which is not publicly available, also argues that India’s massive stream of user data is helping foreign firms build advanced AI tools.
“We are asking that the entire onus of ensuring users’ age be placed on the social media platforms,” Devarayalu said. He is a member of the Telugu Desam Party, a key ally in Modi’s coalition and the party that governs the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.
How the India teen social media ban could play out in Parliament
Private member’s bills do not automatically reflect the government’s position, but they can spark debate and influence future rules. India currently has no national minimum age for social media access and is among the biggest markets for platforms such as Instagram and YouTube.
Days before Devarayalu’s proposal, Chief Economic Adviser V. Anantha Nageswaran urged policymakers to consider age-based limits and make platforms responsible for age checks in the annual economic survey, according to reporting on the survey.
States are also testing the waters. Goa’s government said it is studying Australia’s approach with an eye toward restricting social media use for children younger than 16, according to a Reuters report.
Technology companies have cautioned against blanket bans. Meta has said it supports laws that strengthen parental oversight but warned that governments should be careful not to “push teens toward less safe, unregulated sites.”
Global pressure to limit youth social media is accelerating
The India teen social media ban proposal mirrors a broader crackdown. Australia began enforcing a world-first ban for children younger than 16 in December, and its eSafety Commissioner said platforms removed about 4.7 million underage accounts in the first month, Reuters reported. In France, President Emmanuel Macron is pressing to fast-track legislation to bar social media for children younger than 15, the Associated Press reported.
A longer timeline of tightening rules
The India teen social media ban debate follows years of friction between New Delhi and big tech. India criticized Twitter in 2021 for failing to comply with new IT rules, according to a 2021 Reuters report. France later approved a 2023 law requiring parental consent for users younger than 15, France 24 reported, and Australia’s parliament passed its ban for children younger than 16 in 2024, Reuters reported.
Whether Devarayalu’s bill advances is uncertain, and enforcement questions — including privacy concerns over age verification and the ease of faking credentials — have complicated similar efforts elsewhere. Still, the proposal has put an India teen social media ban squarely into national politics as governments worldwide demand stronger safeguards for children online.
