Saturday, March 29, 2025
A shocking case from Kerala has once again raised questions about children’s safety on social media and digital platforms. Police have charged 14 men, including government employees, with sexually exploiting a 16-year-old boy they allegedly lured through a dating app.
Investigators revealed that the boy had been active on online platforms for nearly two years using fake profiles. One of the accused befriended him through an app before exploiting him. Police say such crimes are becoming increasingly common, exposing the darker side of social media and dating apps for minors.
Authorities point to their Digital De-Addiction (D-DAD) initiative, launched in 2023, which seeks to identify and rehabilitate children addicted to online gaming, social media, and pornography.
Between March 2023 and July 2025, D-DAD centres handled 1,992 cases of digital addiction, including 571 children addicted primarily to online gaming.
Six centres currently operate in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Kochi, Thrissur, Kozhikode, and Kannur, with expansion plans to eight more districts by the end of the 2025-26 fiscal year.
According to Suraj Kumar MB, nodal officer of the Student Police Cadet project in Ernakulam and coordinator of the district’s D-DAD centre, the initiative has provided timely help to hundreds of children.
“We notice that boys are more often addicted to online games, while girls are drawn to social media platforms. Our counsellors suggest practical solutions to curb these habits, and parents are closely involved in the recovery process,” he explained.
One of the project’s biggest successes, officials say, is shifting parental attitudes.
“Earlier, many families refused to believe mobile phone use could be compared to addiction like alcohol or drugs. Now parents recognize digital addiction as a real problem and want their children to recover,” Suraj said.
The state government recently renewed contracts for counsellors and is hiring additional staff to meet rising demand.
During a recent Kerala Assembly session, legislators expressed concern about children’s excessive use of mobile phones and the internet. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan disclosed that 41 children died by suicide between January 2021 and September 9, 2025 due to mobile or internet misuse. In the same period, 30 children were identified as involved in cyber-related sexual or drug crimes and faced legal action.
Cyber law expert and Cyber Security Foundation founder Advocate Ziyas Jamal praised the D-DAD initiative as a model that other states should replicate. However, he warned that the growing misuse of dating apps by minors presents a serious new challenge.
