New Delhi, March 6 As Karnataka announced a ban on social media for children under 16 years, Meta cautioned on Friday that governments considering such restrictions should be careful not to push teenagers towards less safe, unregulated sites or experiences that lack key protections.
In a statement, Meta said it would comply with local laws, such as bans where enforced, but added that with teenagers using nearly 40 apps weekly, "targeting a handful of companies won't keep them safe."
"Bans need to be applied equally," the US-based social media giant asserted.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced on Friday a ban on the use of social media for those under the age of 16, a move aimed at preventing its adverse effects on children.
"With the objective of preventing the adverse effects of increasing mobile usage on children, the use of social media will be banned for children under the age of 16," Siddaramaiah said while presenting the state Budget for 2026-27.
Meta's statement said that, like lawmakers, the company also wants safe, positive online experiences for young people.
"We want the same thing as lawmakers: safe, positive online experiences for young people. We believe parents should decide which apps their teens use, so we support laws that empower parents to approve teen app downloads at the app store level," Meta said.
Meta added: "Governments considering social media bans should be careful not to push teens toward less safe, unregulated sites, or logged-out experiences that lack important protections -- such as the default safeguards we offer in Instagram's Teen Accounts."
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has also said that social media will be prohibited for children below 13 years within the next 90 days in the state.
On Andhra Pradesh's move, Meta said that the company's services are not available to children under 13, and that it already requires people to be at least 13 to create an account.
"The proposal in Andhra Pradesh relating to children below 13 therefore aligns with our existing policy," the Meta statement said.
In January, the Indian government's Economic Survey had said that age-based access to online platforms should be considered, to avoid digital addiction and protect children from harmful content.
The Survey, tabled in Parliament, had said that online platforms should be made responsible for enforcing age verification, and simpler devices should be promoted for children to access educational content with safeguards to address the rising problem of digital addiction.
"Policies on age-based access limits may be considered, as younger users are more vulnerable to compulsive use and harmful content. Platforms should be made responsible for enforcing age verification and age-appropriate defaults, particularly for social media, gambling apps, auto-play features, and targeted advertising," the Survey had said.
Last month, Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had said that the government is discussing issues of age-based restrictions with social media platforms to determine the way forward as he advocated the need for stronger regulations to protect children, and safeguard society at large from user harms.
Globally, too, several countries, including Australia, France, and the United Kingdom, have introduced or proposed age restrictions and stricter parental consent rules to limit children's access to social media platforms.
Indonesia is also moving in that direction now. On Friday, Indonesia's Communication and Digital Affairs Minister Meutya Hafid said the country will curtail social media for children under 16.
Such a regulation would ensure that under-16 users can no longer have accounts on high-risk platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox.
