National governments are not making any effort to bring control to social media, especially for children. From worries arising from cybersecurity, well-being, and overuse of social media and gadgets, nations are implementing different measures of shielding youths from harm online that do not infringe on their rights to freedom of expression.

India’s Approach

India is still a work in progress as it tries to come up with specific rules that will apply so that children can be allowed to use social media platforms properly. However, accounts linked with Instagram and YouTube, for example, have age limits of 13 but are barely checked. The legal framework in question is the Digital Personal Data Protection Act under development, the provisions of which, discussed earlier, mention special rules for children under 18 years of age. Still, the critics’ point in this argument is that the loopholes make it very easy for children to gain access to the sites by faking their age.

United States: Stricter Guidelines

In the United States, platforms are restricted by the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA); the explicit rule is that they cannot gather information from users below thirteen years of age without the permission of a parent or guardian. The recent legal amendments, such as in Utah and Arkansas, where the creation of a social media account requires a parent’s permission for any person under eighteen years, also spark the privacy or otherwise and feasibility of such actions.

Europe: Focus on Privacy

This is especially true in that the European Union, under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), restricts the usage by children below the age of sixteen. Younger users require parental permission before they can use the platforms. Also, seven EU countries are considering more actions, including limitations in time and limitations of content for children and adolescents.

China: Tech Giants in Check

China is the most extreme of all of them. An example is Douyin (TikTok’s sister app, popular in China), which, among other things, limits the use to 40 minutes per day for children below the age of 14. Usage of educational content is encouraged, and complete restriction to access during late hours of the night is also granted.

Challenges Across Borders

Although the adoption of these measures is intended to protect children, enforcement is always an issue. Parents like myself also worry about how children today are smart enough to outsmart the restrictions that are put in place; there is still an ongoing discussion as to what is safe and what is freedom with the use of technology.

Over time, unlike in the past, the world continues to embrace new digital technologies and consequently reveals an ongoing global juggling of how much children should be allowed to use social media.