A Goa government committee has prepared a draft document and shared its inputs on the subject of restricting social media for children under the age of 16, state Tourism and IT Minister Rohan Khaunte said. This comes after the minister said in January that the state government is studying the possibility of implementing an Australia-like law on banning social media for children under of 16. The committee, which is examining the influence of social media on children, especially those under 16, has been deliberating certain measures, including the introduction of parental controls and application-level filters, restrictions on the use of mobile phones in schools, awareness programmes for parents and data collection of social media platforms used by children.

At an earlier meeting held last month to discuss concerns regarding the impact of social media on children and regulatory safeguards for child safety, the committee flagged issues concerning rising digital dependency, reduced attention spans, cyberbullying and access to inappropriate online content among children.