Could India follow Australia in prohibiting teenagers from using social media?

Pedro Sanchez, the prime minister of Spain, declared on Tuesday that all social media users under the age of sixteen will be prohibited. This action takes place at a time when additional nations are thinking about following Australia’s lead and prohibiting teens from using these sites. Could India, however, be added to this list?

As early as next week, legislation prohibiting teenagers from using social media is anticipated to be passed in Spain. It would thus be the first nation in Europe to enact such a prohibition. But according to Reuters, Greece might soon be preparing a similar prohibition.

Countries are become more conscious of the possible negative consequences of youngsters using social media. Several countries, such as those in the UK, Denmark, and Malaysia, wish to shield kids from social media posts that encourage self-harm, eating disorder content, and cyberbullying, to mention a few. India is also recognizing the possible consequences of digital addiction, but we’ll talk more about that later. Concerns have also been raised about AI-generated child abuse content and digital addiction. Millions of users were allegedly naked on X’s Grok chatbot last month without their permission.

The first nation to completely prohibit individuals under 16 from using social media was Australia. In December of last year, the legislation was passed. Platforms including TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, X, and Snapchat were required to deploy strong age-verification technologies and remove accounts belonging to users under 16 after this prohibition went into force. Businesses that don’t comply risk paying large fines. Australia apparently canceled about 5 million underage accounts in a few of weeks. 550,000 suspected under-16 accounts were deleted in Australia, according to Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram. “We call on the Australian government to engage with industry constructively to find a better way forward… instead of blanket bans,” the company said, urging a reevaluation of the prohibition.

In India, the discussion concerning reducing young people’s usage of social media is also gaining traction. According to the Economic Survey 2025–2026, children and teenagers are increasingly struggling with digital addiction. According to the report, just as obesity and poor nutrition endanger physical health, the rising incidence of digital addiction impairs social and cognitive development. The survey urged the government to take into account age-based restrictions on children’s access to social media and advertisements.

A ban on teens is already being considered by a few Indian states. Andhra Pradesh’s IT Minister, Nara Lokesh, disclosed last month that the state government was thinking of enacting a complete ban on social media for anyone under the age of sixteen, similar to Australia’s policy. Additionally, the Madras High Court recommended that the Indian government take a similar prohibition into consideration. However, we haven’t heard anything about this prospect yet.