Indian teens roll their eyes at talk of social media ban

Aarav Gupta, 15, a student in Delhi, was scrolling through Instagram when he saw a news alert about the Indian government's plans to consider age-based access to social media platforms.

"How can this even be possible? All my friends plan everything on social media, from birthday parties to football games and even study sessions. This is unfeasible," Gupta later told DW.

"Anyway, it is hard to implement without mandatory legal IDs for every login," he added. "And if it happens, we can easily bypass bans using Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) or fake birthdays."

In Bhopal, 14-year-old Priya Khullar can't imagine life without social media. "I get most of my information here and keep up with trends in fashion and music. It's hard to imagine a law banning platforms like Instagram and YouTube Shorts for anyone under 16," Khullar told DW.

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