In a press conference held in Ébène on Friday, 6 November 2026, Dr Avinash Ramtohul, Mauritius’ Minister of Information Technology, Communication and Innovation, announced that the government is considering a mandatory two‑hour daily limit on social‑media use for teenagers. The proposal would be activated by default for users aged 13 to 17 and would also include a “School Mode” that would suppress notifications between 08:00 and 15:00 on school days, as well as a “Sleep Mode” that would block notifications from midnight to 06:00 to protect young people’s sleep. Ramtohul clarified that the measures are still under discussion with Meta and have not yet been implemented. “These are ideas that we are discussing with Meta, and we will follow the procedures according to the laws of the country. We will also need to have laws in place to implement these ideas,” he said. The announcement comes amid a sharp rise in cybercrime in Mauritius. According to the Computer Emergency Response Team of Mauritius (CERT‑MU), 5,754 cyber incidents were reported between 1 January and 5 November 2026, an average of nearly 19 cases per day. The incidents included 1,697 cases of online harassment, 761 of cyberbullying, 723 of scams and fraud, and 603 involving misinformation. Additional reports included 438 identity‑theft cases, 225 sextortion cases, and 61 reports of child sexual abuse and exploitation. Ramtohul stressed that the government could not remain indifferent to the increase in online abuse. “Behind every piece of content intended to cause harm, behind every fake profile, there are also humiliations that victims endure,” he said. In response, the Ministry and the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (ICTA) will launch a three‑month national awareness campaign focused on responsible social‑media use. The campaign will cover information verification, privacy protection, digital‑scam prevention, and the fight against cyberbullying. The Minister assured that the campaign would not restrict freedom of expression or criticism of the government. The government is also negotiating with Meta to establish a structured cooperation framework within the next six months to accelerate the handling of harmful content, particularly harassment, threats, and child exploitation. Additionally, the Ministry is exploring a partnership with StopNCII to combat the non‑consensual sharing of intimate images, including those manipulated using artificial intelligence.