The Government of Karnataka has announced a major step to curb digital addiction among youngsters by planning to restrict social media access for children below the age of 16. The announcement was made by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah during his budget speech in Bengaluru. The proposed measure aims to safeguard children’s mental health, sleep patterns, and online safety. With this initiative, Karnataka is set to become the first state in India to formally move towards regulating social media use among minors.
The Chief Minister noted that several countries have already taken similar steps. Australia introduced a social media ban for users under 16 in December, and some European nations are considering comparable restrictions. The state government said the decision was taken after reviewing these global examples and addressing growing concerns about excessive mobile phone usage among children. Along with this move, the budget also announced major education initiatives, including the recruitment of 2,000 teaching staff for degree colleges, polytechnics, and engineering colleges, and a ₹500-crore project to develop University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering on the model of the Indian Institutes of Technology. The government also revealed plans to introduce the Rohith Vemula Bill to tackle caste-based discrimination in higher education institutions.
