Goa, a popular tourist state in India, is now being shaken by a bold policy discourse that could change the lifestyle of millions of teenagers.
Inspired by Australia's decisive move, the Goa government is seriously considering banning the use of social media for children under the age of 16 to combat the increasingly worrying mental health crisis.
Goa's Information Technology Minister Rohan Khaunte confirmed that his party was deeply analyzing the Australian law that recently paralyzed millions of teenage accounts in a month. This step was taken amid India's position as the largest market for technology giants such as Meta, YouTube, and X, but still has little child protection regulation at the national level.
Although Goa is the smallest state, this move is predicted to have a domino effect in India, especially the state of Andhra Pradesh with a population of 53 million is also rumored to be preparing a special panel to formulate similar rules.
Until now, technology giants such as Google and Meta are still silent regarding the plan, while the Indian central government has not given any signal that it will implement similar rules federally. However, the threat of the negative impact of the internet on the younger generation seems to have reached a boiling point at the regional level.
If this ban is enacted, Goa will join the ranks of countries such as France, Indonesia, and Malaysia that continue to monitor the effectiveness of Australia's "experiment" as a legal basis for limiting the digital space of minors.
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