Social media ban: Meta flags risks in Karnataka's plan for users under-16

Meta said it will comply with the government order, but added that the blanket ban on social media platforms should not be restricted to a handful of apps, and should be equally applied to all applications.

Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah earlier today during the presentation of Budget 2026-27, announced that the government is considering banning social media platforms for children under the age of 16 in Karnataka.

"With the objective of preventing adverse effects of increasing mobile usage on children, usage of social media will be banned for children under the age of 16," said CM Siddaramaiah.

Reacting to the Karnataka government's plan, Meta, which owns Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, while commending the effort, has cautioned that the blanket ban order should be carefully implemented as it may lead to unintended consequences.

"We want the same thing as lawmakers: safe, positive online experiences for young people, and believe parents should decide which apps their teens use, so we support laws that empower parents to approve teen app downloads on the app store," said the Meta Spokesperson.

"However, governments considering bans should be careful not to push teens toward less safe, unregulated sites, or logged out experiences that bypass important protections - like the default safeguards we offer in Instagram’s Teen Accounts," Meta Spokesperson added.

That said, Meta said it will comply with the government order in the right spirit. And, also added that the blanket ban on social media platforms should not be restricted to a handful of apps, but should be equally applied to all applications.

Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah 

"We’ll comply with social media bans where they are enforced, but with teens using ~40 apps weekly, targeting a handful of companies won’t keep them safe. Bans should apply equally across the many apps teens use," said the Meta Spokesperson.

In a related development, Karnataka's neighbour state, Andhra Pradesh, has also announced a similar ban on social media platforms for children under the age of 13.

"We have received a suggestion to ban social media for children aged below 13 years. Definitely, we will ensure there will be no access to the children below 13 years of age in the coming 90 days. Discussion is going on whether it should be 13 years or 16 years, if everyone agrees on it, we will decide soon," CM N Chandrababu Naidu said at Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly.

Banning children under 13 from accessing social media apps makes very little sense, as almost all apps on Google Play and Apple App Store restrict children below 13 years from installing apps. With parental controls such as Google Family Link and Apple Family Sharing features already in place, they control children's activities on phones.

The real authority to restrict underage children from using smartphones lies with the parents, and they must be willing to take firm, responsible decisions.

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