Congress-ruled Karnataka on Friday announced that it is presently examining the possibility of restricting social media access of children, considering the risks involved. Neighbouring Goa is also reportedly examining Australian law to determine how to regulate minors’ access to social media platforms.
The announcement was made by Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR), IT and BT, Priyank Kharge in the latest session of the state’s legislative assembly in response to senior BJP MLA S. Suresh Kumar remarks urging the government to take necessary steps to protect children from ‘online evils’.
Kharge on govt’s collaboration with Zuckerberg’s Meta
Responding to Suresh Kumar’s statements asking the government to take mandatory steps to protect children, Kharge stated that the government has already launched a digital detox programme in collaboration with META and is presently assessing possible restrictions for children using Artificial intelligence and social media.
Close to three lakh children and about one lakh teachers are participating in the digital detox programme. This is a very important issue, and I am conveying what the government is currently doing,” Kharge was heard saying in the parliament.
The minister for IT and rural development in the state also established global precedent for the move and said that possible restrictions inspired from models enforced by countries such as Australia are presently under discussions.
“Finland has taken a decision, the UK is also considering similar measures, and Australia took a call two months ago by banning social media exposure for children. We are also discussing what needs to be done in terms of the responsible use of Artificial Intelligence and social media. The matter is under discussion,” he said.
Suresh Kumar on the threat to children
Raising the issue of a possible age sensitive social media ban in the house, Suresh Kumar said that children are being exposed to pornographic content even before they become adults as a result of excessive use of social media and AI applications.
“We are losing children because of premature exposure to social media. This is a very important issue. We must do something about this. Otherwise, I do not know what will happen to our schools and families. A report on the matter has also been sent to the central government,” he said.
Kumar also mentioned recent moves made by the Goa government, where the administration had announced its intention to soon implement an Australia style order banning children under 16 from social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook and X.
In the announcement the Goa Tourism and Information Technology Minister had stated that the administration is presently engaged in talks with the chief minister exploring the possibility of administering a state-wide ban.
The state of Goa has also taken certain steps. We may not be able to control it completely, but we must take some measures,” Kumar appealed to the Karnataka assembly.
These announcements from Goa and Karnataka come at a time when countries like France and UK are also moving ahead to implement an Australia-style social media ban for children.
The Australian law, called the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act, mandates social media platforms like instagram to take “reasonable” steps to deactivate existing accounts held by under-16s and prevent them from opening new accounts.
In mid-January 2026, the Australian government announced that social media companies had deactivated or restricted approximately 4.7 million accounts following the nationwide ban for children under 16.