New Delhi, Feb. 18 -- The Union government is considering restricting social media access for those below the age of 16, by amending the Information Technology Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, a senior IT ministry official said.

"Certain accounts should be accessible but there are certain accounts which shouldn't. We have to think judiciously whether kids should have access or not (to these)," added the official who asked not to be named. According to this person, the government is looking at the Australian model, although it is not considering a complete ban (for those under 16), like that country.

On Tuesday, IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in a press conference that the government is holding consu...