The Goa government is “studying” the possibility of implementing an Australia-like law banning social media for children under the age of 16.
Goa Tourism and Information Technology (IT) Minister Rohan Khaunte said the matter is under consideration. In response to a query on whether such a ban was under consideration, the minister told the media on Sunday: “We have had a lot of complaints from parents. Social media and some of these platforms are becoming a distraction for the children, leading to a lot of social implications.”
He continued: “Australia has brought in a law ensuring a ban on social media for children below the age of 16. It is something they have already done. Our [IT] department, our people have already pulled out those particular papers. We are studying them. We will talk to the chief minister, and if possible, implement a similar ban on children below 16 for usage of social media. The details will follow.”
The team is already studying it “and I think in the days to come… before the [next] Assembly [session], maybe we will come with a statement, after talking to the chief minister”, he said.
The overall thought, according to him, is to have children “more focused on education and technology related to education”.
“In the world of Artificial Intelligence, we need them to be more focused on this, which can make them good citizens and take care of the future of the state and the country. The social impact will be positive,” Khaunte said.
He further said: “Today, the children are always on their mobiles on social media, whether it is at the dining table or while watching television or around family. So, the personal space occupied by social media is so large, which is also putting a sort of complex in the children. Australia has done it and we need to look at the IT laws of the country. But at the same time, whether a state-wide ban is possible [or not], we are studying. And if it is possible, we would want to do it to ensure that things go well for the next generation.”
Earlier last week, Andhra Pradesh’s IT and Education Minister Nara Lokesh said the Telugu Desam Party (TDP)-led government was mulling bringing in an Australia-like law banning social media for children under the age of 16, and that a Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by him has been set up to study the proposal.
The Australian law, called the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act, states that age-restricted platforms will be expected to take “reasonable” steps to find existing accounts held by under-16s and deactivate or remove those accounts, prevent them from opening new accounts, including prohibiting any workarounds that may allow under-16s to bypass the restrictions. Platforms also need to have processes to correct errors if someone is mistakenly missed by or included in the restrictions, so no one’s account is removed unfairly.
