New Delhi: Describing digital addiction amongst younger and adults as a “rising public health concern”, the Economic Survey 2025–26 proposed exploring regulatory and group based mostly fashions which prohibit social media and gaming entry for youngsters.
“Digital addiction amongst youth has grow to be a big public health concern, prompting regulatory, therapeutic, and academic responses from governments, health establishments, and civil society,” it flagged.
Citing examples from Australia, China and and South Korea—later repealed, as nicely as self-regulatory fashions in Singapore, the survey argued for bringing restrictions to deal with the escalating menace.
Rising addiction of on-line video games and social media are making youth within the nation susceptible to what the WHO classifies as “Gaming Dysfunction,” characterised by prioritizing gaming over different actions and persevering with to play regardless of unfavorable penalties.
“Extreme display screen time, pushed by algorithm-led engagement and always-on connectivity, is reshaping behaviour, psychological health and productiveness, particularly amongst youngsters and younger adults,” mentioned Nilesh Maheshwari, Companion – Health Transformation, Grant Thornton Bharat
Whereas the survey highlighted a number of coverage measures taken by the federal government to deal with psychological health challenges—such as the Tele-MANAS psychological health helpline and restrictions on on-line gaming—it emphasised that “growing a complete set of indicators is important to evaluate the multidimensional influence of interventions concentrating on digital addiction.”
In response to the survey a significant problem in addressing digital addiction in India is the dearth of complete nationwide knowledge on its prevalence and psychological health results, which hinders focused intervention, useful resource allocation, and integration of digital wellness into nationwide psychological health methods.
In response to this rising concern, the survey proposed platforms ought to be made accountable for imposing age verification and age-appropriate defaults, notably for social media, playing apps, auto-play options, and focused promoting.
Outlining a number of network-based security measures, it added that by providing household knowledge plans with differentiated quotas for academic versus leisure apps and content material filters with default blocking of high-risk classes.
In the meantime to supply alternate options to digital areas, the doc suggests, “governments and communities ought to set up offline youth hubs, notably in city slums and rural areas”
The survey highlighted that digital addiction extends past youth, affecting adults as nicely, and really helpful measures such as consciousness initiatives in schools and workplaces, creation of technology-free zones.
“What started as digital inclusion is now tipping into overconsumption, affecting consideration spans, studying outcomes and workforce effectivity,” Maheshwari mentioned including that, “if left unaddressed, digital addiction may dilute India’s demographic dividend.”
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