Finding ways to facilitate responsible use of social media platforms by young adults to minimise potential dangers without parental involvement should be the long-term goal
The troubling influence of social media platforms on children and teenagers has warranted the need for intervention and even regulation. This inference is borne out by data. A recent report by the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences revealed that 27% of teenagers in India have developed symptoms of social media dependency and are afflicted by mental illnesses. Further, according to a 2024 survey by LocalCircles, 66% of urban Indian parents believe their wards are addicted to online platforms; another study conducted in 2023 by the Internet and Mobile Association of India showed that teenagers spend more than 2-3 hours on platforms like Instagram and YouTube daily. The focus on idealised body images and lifestyles on Instagram, in particular, negatively impacts adolescent girls, leading to low self-esteem and consumerism.
Perhaps in response to such criticism and concerns, Instagram, the Meta-owned image and video-sharing social media platform, has introduced its ‘teen accounts’ feature in several countries, including the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and now in India, as a sweeping overhaul to beef up digital privacy and moderate content consumption for an age-appropriate online experience. It must be noted that the largest number of Instagram users are from India — over 350 million — which comprises a significant number of teens. The introduction of teen-centric features thus seems to be a step in the right direction. Their accounts, under this arrangement, will be set to ‘private’ by default with options to limit usage or switch to automatic sleep mode. Teenagers will also be cushioned from viewing sensitive content and shielded from promotional material like cosmetics. Moreover, the safeguards — they seem promising — cannot be altered without parental consent, thereby enabling guardians to protect teenaged users from potential mischief. This seems to be an attempt to circumvent a common practice of children lying about their age while opening accounts. Such a regulatory mindset also mirrors the draft rules released by the ministry of electronics and information technology which mandate social media platforms to obtain verifiable parental consent before creating accounts. But sustained parental engagement with — surveillance of — their wards’ accounts can lead to the undermining of privacy. Finding ways to facilitate responsible use of social media platforms by young adults to minimise potential dangers without parental involvement should be the long-term goal.
Source: Telegraph India, 17/02/25
