Indian tourist state of Goa weighs social media ban for children

NEW DELHI, Jan 27 (Reuters) – India’s top tourist state of Goa is considering a social media ban for children similar to one implemented in Australia, as concerns grow over mental ‍health risks in a nation with more than a billion internet users.

Among the top markets for tech giants such as Meta, Google’s YouTube and X, India is thought to have many users aged under 18 but has imposed no national curbs on social media and there are no indications ‌the federal government plans to do so.

Authorities in ‌Goa are examining Australia’s law to study how to regulate minors’ access to social media platforms, said Rohan Khaunte, the state’s infotech minister.

“If possible, (we will) implement a similar ban on children below 16 for usage of social ​media,” he told reporters this week. “Details will follow.”

The southern state of Andhra Pradesh, with a population of more than 53 million, has ‍said it is looking into similar ​measures. Goa, by contrast, is the smallest state by ​area, with a population estimated at over 1.5 million.

India’s IT ministry did ‍not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Google and X also did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the plan.

Meta said it supports laws which require parental oversight but that “governments considering bans should be careful not to push ‍teens toward less safe, unregulated sites.”

“We’ll comply with social media bans, but with teens using ~40 apps weekly, targeting a handful of companies won’t keep them ‍safe,” a Meta ‍spokesperson told Reuters in an email.

Andhra Pradesh recently ​set up a panel of senior ministers to make ​recommendations ⁠within a month after studying such global regulation ‌efforts, media said.

Last year, Australia became the first country to ban social media for children under 16, deactivating 4.7 million teen accounts in the first month.

France, Indonesia and Malaysia are among other countries watching the Australian rollout with a view to adopting similar laws.

(Reporting by Arpan Chaturvedi; Editing by Clarence Fernandez ⁠and Timothy Heritage)