The petition filed through advocate Mohini Priya said that unrestricted access to social media has led to a surge in mental health issues including depression, anxiety, self harm and suicidal tendencies among children.
“A study conducted by Social Media Matters reveals that a significant percentage of young users spend over five hours daily on social media, engaging in endless scrolling and consuming algorithm-driven content specifically designed to induce addiction-like behavior. The absence of meaningful regulatory oversight has transformed social media into an unmonitored psychological battleground, where minors are subjected to predatory algorithms, unrealistic comparisons, and deeply harmful content,” the plea said.
The petitioner, therefore, urged the Court to direct the government to impose a total ban on social media access for children younger than 13 years old.
The plea said that this was necessary given the significant psychological, cognitive and social risks associated with premature digital exposure.
Other prayers made by the petitioner included:
– that parental controls must be made mandatory when it comes to social media access for children between 13-18 years of age;
– real-time monitoring tools, strict age verification and content restrictions should be put in place when it comes to social media access;
– robust age verification systems, such as biometric authentication, must be put in place to regulate children’s access to social media platforms.
– strict penalties should be put in place for social media platforms failing to comply with such child protection regulations.
– that the government should launch a nationwide digital literacy campaign to educate parents, teachers, and students on the harmful effects of excessive social media consumption.
