It will make TikTok, Meta etc. liable for failures to prevent children under 16 from holding accounts and sets social responsibility on platforms to ensure the safety of children from social media addictions.

Reasons for social media addiction among children?

• Exploitation of the brain's reward circuits by Social Media: It creates addictive loops that trigger continuous engagement through dopamine stimulation.
• Lack of authentic emotional connections pushes adolescents to social media as a substitute for genuine interpersonal relationships.

Impact of Social media addiction

• Screen Time Displacement: Digital engagement replaces children’s physical activities with online interactions.
  • It may lead to erosion of real-life relationships and social skills, FOMO(Fear Of Missing Out). 
• Productivity Drain and academic consequences: It disrupts activities such as school work, sports, study etc.
• Psychological Impact: Constant exposure to idealized images achievement leads to unrealistic expectations.
  • It may lead to instances of cyberbullying, lack of self-esteem, focus and concentration.
• Heath Impact: can adversely impact brain development and lead to depression, sleep problems, eating disorders.
• Exposure to harmful Content: such as suicide and self-harm and increased vulnerability to extreme viewpoints.

Negative effect of ban

• May limit positive impacts of social media on children: E.g. Digital Competence and Social Integration, Creative Expression and Collaborative Learning, Interest-Based Networking Opportunities etc.
• May push children to unsafe places on Internet: E.g. Dark Web