Regulate, don’t ban

Karnataka’s proposal to bar children under the age of 16 from accessing social media reflects a rising global anxiety about the impact of digital platforms on young users. Concerns about addiction, cyberbullying, and mental health are legitimate. Yet converting these anxieties into a sweeping legal prohibition risks producing a law that is hasty, difficult to enforce, and potentially intrusive. Policy-making in this complex space demands careful design; blanket bans rarely provide it.