Every day, millions of young Indians wake up and spend hours on Instagram—scrolling through endless reels that promote unrealistic lifestyles, harmful trends, and often very inappropriate content. Students skip studies, workers lose focus, and families eat meals in silence while everyone’s eyes are glued to a 6 inch screen. By January 2023, India had around 24 crore Instagram users, which is 16.9 per cent of our country's population. 

Here's a story I want to tell you, we have a helper at home and she recently got a new phone. So, she told my mother to make an instagram account for her so she can connect to her kids. My mother said, "Sure, why not." And I kid you not, when she opened her brand new account, there were already inappropriate reels coming. She hadn’t followed anyone, yet Instagram’s algorithm had decided what kind of content she should see. Why isn't India regulating it? 

This isn't some normal incident, this is a proof of how Instagram pushes bad content into our generation's accounts. We all know that in Instagram everyone show the good things happening in their lives such as, going on a new trip, buying a new laptop or a car or maybe showing off their body. Which is sometimes extremely fake due to the increasing number of realistic filters coming out.

But because of this our generation is in danger! They feel comparison anxiety, fear of missing out (FOMO), lower self esteem and much more. Kids so young as 9-12 years old are getting exposed to sexualized content, toxic trends and violence on Instagram. This makes students lose focus, sleep late and perform poorly in school. And also makes their mental health worse.

If Instagram remains unregulated, more youth will suffer from depression, anxiety and low confidence. And India's creativity and talent is at risk. Because ridiculous content gets viral and rewarded more than actual good reels/videos. Sleep deprivation, in turn, is linked with a higher risk of developing serious health conditions, including hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, strokes, cancers and dementia. However, if we act now, we can reclaim the digital space to support learning, growth, and real relationships.

We can’t afford to wait. With every passing day, more teenagers fall into the trap of mindless scrolling, and more creators push harmful content for views. This is the moment to stand up—for our generation and the next. If enough of us speak out now, we can pressure lawmakers and platforms to act before it’s too late.

Instagram’s growth in India is rapid—reels are now the #1 source of content for youth. Mental health issues have increased dramatically after 2020, which we all know was the COVID-19 era. Indian laws around social media regulation are still very weak, there are existing regulations like Section 9 of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDPA), which governs children’s data use. But these measures fail to address addiction’s root causes.

Remember, if a something is free then we are the product. And how we are paying for it? By giving it our time. 

Sign this petition to demand the Indian government take serious action—either to ban Instagram or to regulate it with strict content filters and time control systems.