The pilot project currently being implemented to reduce social media usage among children below the age of 16 has shown successful results, Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated.

The Prime Minister made these remarks in Parliament today (08) in response to a question raised by Member of Parliament Harshana Rajakaruna.

Expressing her views on this, Prime Minister Amarasuriya stated that steps have been taken to formulate a national code of guidelines aimed at minimizing social media usage among children under the age of 16, while also initiating a national-level awareness programme based on the concept of “Brain Health” to promote children’s mental well-being.

She further stated that the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs has already launched a pilot project to implement a family empowerment programme. Under this initiative, methods have been introduced to support families with children under the age of 18 in addressing excessive mobile phone usage among children, and positive outcomes have been reported through these pilot programmes.

The Prime Minister emphasized that this is a priority area requiring government intervention and cannot be addressed through a single measure alone.

“We are considering a range of measures, not merely a ban on social media. Discussions are currently underway to identify the most suitable approaches for Sri Lanka, including providing guidance on social media usage and ‘Digital Health’ within the education system and other relevant areas. We intend to submit these proposals to the Cabinet within this year,” she stated.