<figure id="attachment_2921768" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2921768" style="width: 1600px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-2921768 size-full" src="https://media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/76af61b1-social-media-112524.webp" alt="social media" width="1600" height="1000" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-2921768" class="wp-caption-text">India, the world&#8217;s second-biggest smartphone market with 750 million devices and a billion internet users, is a key growth market for social media apps.</figcaption></figure>
NEW DELHI: An ally of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has proposed a bill to ban social media for children, as the world&#8217;s biggest market for Meta and YouTube joins a global debate on the impact of social media on young people&#8217;s health and safety.
&#8220;Not only are our children becoming addicted to social media, but India is also one of the world&#8217;s largest producers of data for foreign platforms,&#8221; lawmaker L.S.K. Devarayalu told Reuters on Friday.
&#8220;Based on this data, these companies are creating advanced AI systems, effectively turning Indian users into unpaid data providers, while the strategic and economic benefits are reaped elsewhere,&#8221; he said.
Australia last month became the first country to ban social media for children under 16, blocking access in a move welcomed by many parents and child advocates but criticised by major technology companies and free-speech advocates. France&#8217;s National Assembly this week backed legislation to ban children under 15 from social media, while Britain, Denmark and Greece are studying the issue.
Facebook operator Meta, YouTube-parent Alphabet and X did not respond on Saturday to emails seeking comment on the Indian legislation. Meta has said it backs laws for parental oversight but that &#8220;governments considering bans should be careful not to push teens toward less safe, unregulated sites.&#8221;
India&#8217;s IT ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
India, the world&#8217;s second-biggest smartphone market with 750 million devices and a billion internet users, is a key growth market for social media apps and does not set a minimum age for access.
Devarayalu&#8217;s 15-page Social Media (Age Restrictions and Online Safety) Bill, which is not public but was seen by Reuters, says no one under 16 &#8220;shall be permitted to create, maintain, or hold&#8221; a social media account and those found to have one should have them disabled.
&#8220;We are asking that the entire onus of ensuring users&#8217; age be placed on the social media platforms,&#8221; Devarayalu said.
The government&#8217;s chief economic adviser attracted attention on Thursday by saying India should draft policies on age-based access limits to tackle &#8220;digital addiction&#8221;.
Devarayalu&#8217;s legislation is a private member&#8217;s bill &#8211; not proposed to parliament by a federal minister &#8211; but such bills often trigger debates in parliament and influence lawmaking.
He is from the Telugu Desam Party, which governs the southern state Andhra Pradesh and is vital to Modi&#8217;s coalition government.

MatchPoint Times

Modi ally proposes social media ban for India’s teens as global debate grows

Lawmaker L.S.K. Devarayalu proposed a private member’s bill on the issue, which often triggers debate in parliament and influences lawmaking.

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