Under-20 age group powers India’s rise in smartphone use

By: Team India Tracker

The government should move swiftly towards a national framework with firm age rules, stronger enforcement and clear duties for platforms, schools and parents to protect young users

The smartphone is reaching Indian children much earlier, with the sharpest rise among adolescents. Between 2020 and 2023, the proportion of 10-14-year-olds using smartphones rose from 19 per cent to 73 per cent. Among 15-19-year-olds, it increased from 49 per cent to 91 per cent. 

The increase was also substantial among younger children. Smartphone use among 5-9-year-olds rose from 9 per cent to 46 per cent, while among those aged 0-4 it went up from 1 per cent to 7 per cent. Overall smartphone use increased from 70 per cent to 85 per cent. 

The trend is notable because the share of Indians aged 0-19 fell from 35.70 per cent in 2020 to 33.98 per cent in 2023, according to the UN World Population Prospects. Over the same period, the share aged 20-64 rose from 57.88 per cent to 59.10 per cent, while the 65-plus population increased from 6.42 per cent to 6.92 per cent. 

The policy debate is beginning to catch up. The European Commission has proposed the EU Kids Act, including a ban on social media for children under 13. Australia was the first to enact such a restriction, followed by France, Indonesia, Malaysia and Türkiye. 

India has no comparable national restriction, although Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh proposed such curbs in March. 

The concern is not only the spread of smartphones but what children encounter online. More than 60 per cent of cybercrimes against children relate to sexually explicit content. Cyber pornography accounted for 66.97 per cent of reported cases in 2020, 70.42 per cent in 2021, 64.23 per cent in 2022, 78.81 per cent in 2023 and 62.69 per cent in 2024. 

The total number of reported cybercrimes against children rose from 1,102 in 2020 to 1,376 in 2021, 1,823 in 2022 and 1,902 in 2023, before falling to 1,753 in 2024. 

Cyberstalking accounted for 12.70 per cent of cases in 2020, 8.94 per cent in 2021, 8.67 per cent in 2022, 1.47 per cent in 2023 and 5.99 per cent in 2024. Cyberblackmailing accounted for 0.27 per cent, 1.68 per cent, 4.06 per cent, 0.11 per cent and 1.08 per cent respectively. Other categories made up 20.06 per cent, 18.96 per cent, 23.04 per cent, 19.61 per cent and 30.24 per cent respectively. 

Screen time has risen alongside smartphone ownership. In 2023, children aged 0-5 spent an average of 1.5 hours online a day, while the figure was 2.5 hours for those aged 11-15 and 4 hours for those aged 16-18. Data for the 6-10 age group was not available. 

Smartphone ownership stood at 60 per cent among 0-5-year-olds, 85 per cent among 6-10-year-olds and 95 per cent among 11-15-year-olds. 

The World Health Organisation recommends less than one hour of screen time a day for children aged 2-5 and less than two hours for those aged 5-17. 

The technology companies are also beginning to respond. This month, Meta and Google agreed to report cases involving child sexual abuse material directly to Indian law-enforcement agencies. 

The numbers point to a simple change: smartphones are becoming part of childhood earlier. For India, the debate is now moving beyond access to the safeguards that should accompany it. 

India’s next step is to turn scattered state initiatives and platform commitments into a coherent national framework. That means setting clear age-related rules, strengthening reporting and enforcement mechanisms, and giving schools and parents practical safeguards. The aim should be a system in which technology companies carry a defined responsibility for protecting young users, rather than leaving the burden largely with families.