Andhra Pradesh to take call on social media ban for under-16s today

New Delhi: The Andhra Pradesh government is set to take a call on banning social media for children below 16 years as a group of ministers (GoM) will deliberate on the issue on Wednesday.

Andhra Pradesh's GoM on social media, headed by state IT and electronics minister Nara Lokesh, will meet to discuss the pros and cons of banning social media for children.

According to sources, government officials have studied different models of social media restrictions across the world and have prepared a note for a discussion on Wednesday. The note has listed out increased attention span and improved physical interaction with peers to argue in favour of a ban. At the same time, the note has red-flagged the issue of "digital cliff" which is defined as the emotional and social impact of sudden introduction to social media at the age of 16.


The GoM was formed in October last year to formulate a regulatory framework for social media following circulation of morphed obscene images of women family members of ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP). This led to a crackdown by the state government on the YSRCP social media activists. The GoM comprises members like home minister V Anitha, housing minister K Partha Sarathi, health minister Satya Kumar Yadav and civil supplies and consumer affairs minister N Manohar.

The scope of the GoM was expanded following Australia's move to ban social media for children under 16. The move aims to protect minors from online harm, cyberbullying, and addictive algorithms. Andhra Pradesh is the first state in India to consider such a social media ban. Goa is also now talking about a similar ban.

Apart from this, the GoM is considering measures such as establishing a State Social Media Coordination Cell as a single point interface with social media platforms for early detection, rapid escalation and coordination, appoint a state nodal officer to process complaints and route legally valid blocking requests to Government of India, create a quasi-judicial oversight and monitoring mechanism to review platform responsiveness, police action and corrective measures.