Supreme Court asks Centre to consider barring minors' social signups
The Supreme Court asked the Centre to consider whether children under 18 should be prevented from creating social media accounts without parental consent.
This comes after a children's rights group pointed out that, even though Indian law says minors can't sign contracts, apps like Facebook and Snapchat let 13-year-olds sign up anyway.
Petition urges parental identity checks
The petition also warned about risks like online grooming and cyberbullying, suggesting parents or guardians should be subject to identity checks where appropriate before kids get accounts.
Prime Minister Modi praised Australia's restrictions for users under 16 and said India was "taking lessons" from its approach.
Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have also announced plans to restrict social media access for children under 16 and under 13, respectively, but neither has set out a law or enforcement mechanism.
The Supreme Court will check back on this in four weeks.