Andhra Plans Social Media Curbs for Minors Citing Online Harassment

Minister Lokesh highlighted the serious issue of online harassment and abuse faced by women.

"Trust in social media is breaking down. Children are slipping into relentless usage, affecting their attention spans and education. Women are facing non-stop online abuse. This cannot be ignored. The Andhra Pradesh Government has decided to act. In the meeting of the Group of Ministers on Social Media, we have ordered a study of legal frameworks for age-appropriate access," Nara Lokesh said in a post on X

The Minister further said that they have invited social media intermediaries to the next Group of Ministers meeting to study the "global best practices".

"We have also invited major platforms like Meta, X, Google and Sharechat to the next GOM meeting, to examine global best practices. We will ensure social media becomes a safer space and reduce its damaging impact - especially for women and children," Lokesh added in his post.

Minister Nara Lokesh participated in the meeting of the Group of Ministers held at the Secretariat on "strengthening accountability in social media."

"I have instructed the officials to formulate policies and regulations to keep minors (of specified age) away from social media. I have directed them to study the policies being followed in Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, and France regarding the imposition of a social media ban on children, and to take strict action against habitual offenders who repeatedly post fake content on social media," the minister said on X.

In December, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced that the social media ban for children under the age of 16 is now in place in Australia, making it the first country in the world to "give it a crack".

- ANI