Andhra Pradesh forms panel to examine social media access for children below 16

The Andhra Pradesh government has constituted a Group of Ministers (GoM) to examine whether access to social media platforms should be restricted or prohibited for children below the age of 16, Home Minister Vangalapudi Anitha said on Friday.

According to PTI, the panel will be led by IT Minister Nara Lokesh and includes Home Minister Anitha and Health Minister Satya Kumar. The group has been asked to study regulatory frameworks adopted in other Indian states and internationally to assess what measures could be legally and practically implemented in Andhra Pradesh.

Anitha said the government is reviewing multiple global approaches, including recent legislation in Australia that proposes setting 16 as the minimum age for social media usage and places enforcement responsibility on digital platforms. She clarified that the state is not focused on any single model.

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“Not only the Australian model, we are studying various models being implemented across the country and globally. We will examine how social media abuse can be controlled and what measures are within the state’s powers,” Anitha told PTI.

The minister said the key objective of the exercise is to identify practical ways to regulate children’s access to social media. “Either a ban or restriction. How to control it is the main task,” she said.

Anitha also pointed to gaps in current age-verification processes, noting that most platforms rely on self-declared age details during registration without independent verification. She said one option under discussion is requiring users to submit age-proof documents to ensure authenticity.

The Group of Ministers is expected to finalise its recommendations within a month. Anitha said the report would be prepared in consultation with Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and would then be shared with the central government for further consideration.

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Earlier, IT Minister Lokesh had stated at an event in Davos that the state was exploring restrictions on social media use by children under 16. The proposal has received support from the ruling Telugu Desam Party.

Officials said the study aims to address concerns around online safety, misuse of digital platforms by minors and the extent of regulatory authority available to a state government in overseeing social media access.