NEW DELHI: As Australia announced on Thursday that children under 16 will soon be banned from using social media due to the harmful effects it has on them, a recent survey in India shows that parents are similarly seeking governmental intervention.
They are urging the government to implement a data protection law that would mandate parental consent for children under 18 when they join social media, OTT/video, and online gaming platforms.
The survey, conducted by LocalCircles, India's leading community social media platform, revealed that one in two urban Indian parents reported that their children are addicted to social media, OTT, and online gaming platforms, which has resulted in aggressive, impatient, and lethargic behaviour.
The survey found that children aged between 9 and 17 are spending between three and six hours daily on these platforms, with many children exceeding six hours.
The study, which included responses from 368 urban districts in India, highlighted that the most popular platforms among children include YouTube, Prime Video, Netflix, and Hotstar, followed closely by social media apps such as Instagram, WhatsApp, Discord, Snapchat, and Be Real.
Parents have expressed increasing concern over their children’s changing behaviour, with many describing their children as more aggressive since they became hooked on these platforms.
As a result, a significant portion of parents are urging the Indian government to adopt similar measures to those in Australia and other countries.
Specifically, they are calling for a law that ensures mandatory parental consent for children under 18 when they join social media, OTT/video, and online gaming platforms. The Norwegian government, for example, has proposed increasing the minimum age for social media use to 15.
Dr. Yatan Pal Singh Balhara, Professor of Psychiatry at the Behavioral Addictions Clinic (BAC) at AIIMS, said, “It is high time that we realize the potential adverse consequences of excessive use of social media, OTT, and gaming among children and adolescents. We need to prioritise this as an important public health concern. There is a need to create awareness, invest in prevention-oriented strategies, and strengthen treatment services for those with addiction. Everyone needs to come on board to make meaningful change.”
He added, “The bottom line is we need to ensure safe and healthy internet-related behaviour among our children and adolescents.”
Sachin Taparia, founder of LocalCircles, also shared his concerns, pointing to the need for the Indian government to adopt similar laws, especially in light of Australia's plans to ban social media for children under 16.
Taparia stated that LocalCircles would be sharing the survey findings with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), UIDAI, the Ministry of Women and Child Development, and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), all of whom have already raised concerns with MeitY regarding the mandatory KYC-based verification of children’s age under the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act.
The survey results indicated that 66 per cent of respondents believe a data protection law should be passed to ensure that parental consent is mandatory when children under 18 join social media, OTT/video, and online gaming platforms. Many parents also support implementing mandatory parental consent through Aadhaar authentication.
Among the 13,285 parents surveyed, 10 per cent stated that their children aged 9-17 years spend over six hours online daily, 37 per cent reported children spend between three to six hours, and 39 per cent said their children spend one to three hours.
Only 5 per cent of parents said their children spend little time on these platforms, while 47 per cent of parents said their children spend an average of three or more hours daily on social media, OTT, and online gaming platforms.
The survey also found that 66 per cent of parents indicated that their children are addicted to video/OTT platforms (such as YouTube, Prime Video, Netflix, and Hotstar), 61 per cent cited social media addiction (Instagram, WhatsApp, Discord, Snapchat, Be Real), and 52 per cent mentioned online gaming addiction (Minecraft, PUBG, Fortnite, Among Us, FIFA, Fantasy Sports).
Only 5 per cent of parents reported that their children are not addicted to any internet-based activities.
Additional findings revealed concerning behavioural changes, with 58 per cent of parents observing increased aggression in their children since they became addicted to these platforms.
Forty-eight percent of parents reported that their children have become more impatient, and 49 per cent described them as lazier due to excessive online engagement. Symptoms of depression, hyperactivity, and even happiness when online were also reported.
Taparia noted that these concerns were raised in the Economic Survey as well, highlighting the potential risks of unrestrained and unsupervised internet use by children, from social media obsession to severe issues like cyberbullying.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia, who first proposed the social media age limit, recently announced the government's plan to enforce this policy, stating that tech giants and social media platforms would bear the responsibility of ensuring users are of the correct age.
He further stated that the burden should not fall on parents, who are already deeply concerned about their children’s safety online.
“This one is for the mums and dads. Social media is doing real harm to kids, and I’m calling time on it. The onus will not be on parents or young people. There will be no penalties for users,” Albanese said.