# Centre tells Supreme Court it will bar under-18s from social media

2026-09-30T00:41:32+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk

Corroboration: 2 independent outlets

The Centre has told the Supreme Court it will amend the IT Rules to bar children under 18 from opening social media accounts. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told a bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant that social media platforms must restrict membership to a minimum age of 18, calling their agreements with minors void contracts. The court was hearing a petition from the NGO Just Rights for Children Alliance, which flagged risks including sexual exploitation of children online. Mehta said the government will introduce a new provision making it a statutory obligation for intermediaries to comply with Indian law. The proposed threshold of 18 is higher than the age limits adopted by most other countries pursuing similar measures. The Centre is also pushing Meta and Google to report child sexual abuse material to Indian authorities. The court has sought clarity on whether the rules will be new or an amendment to existing norms, with the government expected to file a formal proposal.

## Indian Opinion Analysis

The two accounts agree a proposed rule to bar under-18s from social media is under discussion but differ sharply in framing. M9.news leads with netizen reaction, presenting the debate as popular support versus a freedom-of-speech minority, with a sensationalist tone. Inc42.com leads with the Solicitor General's specific statement in court, the planned IT Rule amendment, and comparisons to other countries, providing a detailed legal and policy context. The m9.news story omits the precise government mechanism of amending the IT Rules and the specific court bench composition, while inc42.com omits any public criticism or netizen debate. The material difference shows the government's stated intent is a statutory obligation for platforms, not a blanket ban on minors, and the story is framed by m9.news as a popular clampdown and by inc42.com as a regulatory evolution to watch for specific rule text and legislative timeline.

## Coverage

Coverage: 2 sources, 1 neutral, 1 sensationalist
- m9.news (sensationalist) <https://www.m9.news/social-media-viral/india-social-media-ban-minors-under-18/>
  Leads with netizen reactions, frames as popular support versus a minority freedom-of-speech objection, omits legal procedural detail
- inc42.com (neutral report) <https://inc42.com/buzz/will-amend-it-rules-to-bar-under-18s-from-social-media-centre-to-sc/>
  Leads with the Solicitor General's statement in court, details the IT Rules amendment plan and international comparisons, omits public debate

This brief was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry.

Tags: Andhra Pradesh, IT Rules, Just Rights for Children Alliance, Karnataka, Supreme Court of India, Tushar Mehta
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Cite: https://indianopinion.org/centre-tells-supreme-court-it-will-bar-under-18s-from-social-media/#story-in-brief

How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/