Australia becomes the first country to impose a nationwide ban on social media accounts for children under 16.

Key Provisions of the Ban

• Objective of the Legislation: The law seeks to safeguard the mental and physical well-being of minors by limiting their access to high-risk social media environments.
• Scope of the Ban
  • Platforms Covered: Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube, Reddit, Kick, Twitch (10 platforms).
  • Exempted Platforms: Services like YouTube Kids, WhatsApp and Google Classroom are excluded, allowing children to access educational and communication services without social media-style interaction.
  • Possible Expansion: Government may extend to gaming platforms (Roblox, Discord).
• Enforcement Mechanism:
  • Platform Liability: The law does not penalise children or parents. Instead, social media companies face fines of up to AUD 49.5 million for non-compliance.
  • Age Verification Measures: Platforms are mandated to take “reasonable steps” to verify age using tools such as:
    • Government ID verification
    • Selfie-based facial age estimation
    • Voice recognition technology
    • Behavioural age inference systems
    • Data Protection Safeguards: Personal data collected for age verification can only be used for compliance purposes and must be deleted immediately after verification.

Reasons for the Law

• Rising Exposure of Children: Studies show that 96% of children aged 10–15 use social media, and nearly 70% are exposed to harmful content such as misogyny, violence, eating disorder material and promotion of self-harm.
• Escalating Online Risks: Children are increasingly vulnerable to online grooming, cyberbullying, sexual exploitation and algorithm-driven content amplification, which adversely affect mental health and social development.

Key Challenges for enforcement

• Feasibility Issues: Accurate age verification is technically complex and prone to false positives and errors.
• Privacy Risks: Biometric and behavioural data collection could be misused or breached.
• Over-Blocking Risks: There is a risk of excessive censorship, where legitimate content may be restricted.
• Digital Exclusion Concerns: Certain vulnerable groups may face reduced access to digital spaces for learning and expression.

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Social Media Regulation in India

• Legal Framework: India regulates digital platforms primarily through the Information Technology Act, 2000, and the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.
• Platform Responsibilities: Platforms must appoint Grievance Redressal Officers, remove unlawful content, follow due diligence norms, and publish transparency reports.
• Traceability Provisions: Intermediaries are required to identify the first originator of information, raising privacy concerns.
• Institutional Oversight:
• • Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY): The primary government body responsible for formulating and implementing policies related to information technology, including social media.
  • Cybercrime Investigation Cell (Cyber Cell): Investigates cybercrimes, including those related to social media.
  • Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In): Monitors and responds to cyber threats and vulnerabilities.

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