The debate over banning social media for minors is rapidly becoming one of the defining policy questions of the digital age. As countries around the world move toward restrictions, India is faced with a choice: follow regulatory models developed elsewhere or draw upon its own traditions to address the challenge.

Recent measures in Australia, proposals in the U.K., and differing approaches in the U.S. have intensified calls for similar action elsewhere. The arguments are often compelling, particularly when framed around the safety and well-being of children.

The concerns are not imaginary; social media can expose young people to manipulation, addiction, bullying, and harmful content. While these dangers deserve serious attention, it does not automatically follow that bans are the answer. Regulation is important but the more important question is whether regulation alone can prepare the next generation for a world increasingly shaped by AI and digital technologies.

Fear is not the answer

History suggests that every major communications revolution has generated anxiety. The printing press triggered fears about the uncontrolled spread of information; radio, television, and the Internet provoked similar concerns. The enduring challenge has never been about whether information should flow but how societies can encourage its responsible use.

Today’s challenge is magnified by scale and speed. The smartphone has become the printing press, library, marketplace, classroom, and public square of the modern age combined. Social media, AI, and emerging digital technologies are together driving perhaps the greatest transformation in society since the Industrial Revolution.

Many young people understandably find this transition unsettling. They are growing up amid rapid technological disruption, geopolitical uncertainty, widening inequality, and a pervasive sense of instability. In such an environment, fear can become a powerful political force. However, societies should be careful not to allow fear to become the principal driver of policy. Policymakers should ensure that legitimate concerns about children’s well-being do not evolve into a broader resistance to innovation itself. The challenge is not to stop technological change, but to ensure that society develops the institutions to manage it.

Governments are now attempting to erect barriers against technologies that are becoming more sophisticated, personalised, and difficult to control. The contest between regulation and innovation is increasingly unequal. Sophisticated technology will easily enable people to circumvent the barriers the government creates. Virtual private networks, encrypted applications, alternative platforms, and future AI-driven tools will make circumvention increasingly easy. The real question is therefore not how to keep young people away from technology, but how to prepare them to live with it.

Indeed, the debate may already be overtaken by events. The next generation will interact not merely with social media platforms but with intelligent AI systems that can educate, entertain, mentor, and potentially manipulate. The challenge before us is therefore much larger than social media.

Governments unquestionably have a role. They should demand greater transparency from platforms, establish clear standards for child protection, combat criminal activity, and encourage responsible innovation. However, regulation alone cannot solve what is fundamentally a social, cultural, and civilisational challenge. India should explore a broader response rooted in its own civilisational experience.

Drawing from one’s roots

For centuries, Indian society developed mechanisms to transmit values, wisdom, and social responsibility across generations. Family structures, religious traditions, and educational institutions helped young people navigate periods of change and uncertainty. Among the most enduring of these was the guru-shishya tradition, a relationship that extended far beyond the transmission of knowledge. It sought to cultivate character, self-discipline, and a sense of responsibility.

The challenge today is not to recreate the past but to adapt its strengths to the realities of the 21st century. Parents must become more digitally literate and engaged in the online lives of their children. Schools should teach not only technological skills but also digital citizenship, critical thinking, ethical reasoning, and resilience. Religious and cultural organisations should engage with technology rather than retreat from it. Technology companies, educators and civil society should work together to encourage responsible behaviour online.

Just as previous generations learned how to navigate the physical world responsibly, future generations must learn how to navigate the digital world responsibly. This is not simply a technological challenge. It is an educational and cultural one.

India’s civilisational strength has always been its ability to absorb powerful external influences without losing its cultural core. As one of the world’s oldest civilisations with a growing digital society, India is positioned to demonstrate that tech progress and cultural continuity can coexist. The challenges posed by social media will not be resolved by building a bigger firewall. They will be addressed by combining safeguards with the human institutions that shape judgment, resilience, and responsibility.

Milinda Moragoda is former Sri Lankan Cabinet Minister, diplomat, and founder of the Pathfinder Foundation, a strategic affairs think tank