Kurunegala District SJB MP Dayasiri Jayasekera has submitted a motion to Parliament seeking to restrict social media use for children under the age of 15, citing rising mental health problems, cyberbullying and declining academic performance among minors.
The motion, incorporated into the Addendum to the Parliament Order Book, calls for legislation to regulate children’s access to social media platforms in view of what it describes as the adverse effects of excessive use. It states that unrestricted access has led to growing mental stress, deteriorating school performance, cyberbullying incidents and exposure to indecent and unsafe online content.
Among the proposals are fixing the minimum age for opening a social media account at 15 years, making age verification mechanisms compulsory for social media companies, and imposing fines and legal sanctions on entities that violate the proposed law. The motion also calls for measures to address cases where children access platforms through accounts operated by adults.
Jayasekera pointed to Australia, France and Denmark as countries that have already introduced laws or regulatory frameworks limiting children’s access to social media. The proposal is due to be taken up for debate at a later date.
The opposition MP’s motion sets a higher age threshold than the government’s own track. In May, the Women and Child Affairs Ministry said a prime minister-led committee had recommended barring under-12s from social media and under-5s from screens — proposals that remain at the deliberation stage and have not been gazetted. Both initiatives reflect mounting concern over child online safety in Sri Lanka.
