Social media concerns
Apropos the Editorial ‘Safety net’ (March 11), Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh’s move to regulate social media access for minors is a timely and prudent response to the growing concerns surrounding the digital lives of young users.
Increasing incidents of screen addiction, cyberbullying, exposure to harmful content and psychological stress among adolescents underline the urgency for regulatory safeguards.
However, the true effectiveness of such measures will depend on the rigour of their implementation, particularly in ensuring credible age verification, platform accountability and parental awareness.
A coordinated national policy spearheaded by the Centre, and adopted by all States, would ensure consistency, stronger oversight and more meaningful protection for minors.
N Sadhasiva Reddy
Bengaluru
Apropos ‘Safety Net’ (March 11), the Editorial makes a convincing case that restricting access alone will not solve the problem. Platforms are designed to be compulsive, and until that architecture changes, age-based bans will remain easy to circumvent.
Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh are right to push for regulation, but State-level rules will always have limited reach. What India needs is a central framework that goes beyond access control.
Mandatory default settings that disable autoplay and algorithmic feeds for minors, transparent reporting requirements for platforms, and genuine liability for harm caused to young users would create real accountability.
A Myilsami
Coimbatore
Focus on banking
This is with reference to the report ‘PSBs made over ₹28000 cr in 5 years by selling 3rd party financial products’ (March 11).
Bankers’ duties are to increase primarily their CASA deposits and utilise these funds of less interest for lending to other sectors with relatively better interest rates and meet the statutory requirements.
The banks should not get lured into hawking other financial products for increasing their incomes/commissions.
At the same time the customers should also realise that some schemes such as the life insurance are important for them as are housing loans which are of long tenure.
Another important issue is the ‘mis-selling’ of some products, which the Finance Minister has rightly flagged, so the bankers have to be more cautious.
Katuru Durga Prasad Rao
Hyderabad
Published on March 11, 2026