India’s new stride for a safer internet for children reflects a greater problem than their screen time. As policymakers debate Australia’s age-based restrictions, millions of adult users could be drawn into a system designed primarily to protect children. The challenge is finding a balance between child safety, privacy and an open internet without allowing one problem to create another.
The concerns driving this debate are valid. Every parent wants their children to be safer online. Rising cases of cyberbullying, excessive screen time, harmful content and greater influence of social media over children have made child safety a top priority for policymakers around the world. India’s Economic Survey has highlighted the growing impact of technology addiction among young people, while states such as Karnataka and the Union government are considering age-based restrictions on social media. The policy objective is clear; the bigger question is how the proposed solution will address the problem without creating new challenges of its own.
Australia has introduced one of the world’s strictest social media restriction models, yet early evidence suggests that significant gaps remain. Surveys found that around seven in ten parents whose children had accounts before the restrictions reported that their children still had accounts on major platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok. The United Kingdom has faced similar challenges, with users turning to VPNs to bypass age-verification requirements. These examples suggest that restrictions do little to eradicate the problem. There’s a reason the government inclines towards age restrictions. They provide a straightforward way to show that action is being taken on a problem that is difficult to regulate at its source.
