Govt negotiating age-related restrictions with social media firms, says Ashwini Vaishnaw

As global momentum builds to restrict minors’ access to potentially habit-forming digital platforms, Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Tuesday that the government is negotiating age-based restrictions with social media firms.

The government is concurrently addressing the challenge of deepfakes with these digital entities, Vaishnaw said during a media briefing at the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi.

“This has now been accepted by many countries – that age-based regulations have to be there,” Vaishnaw said.

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In January, the central government identified this matter as a significant concern within the annual Economic Survey. Last month, a minister from Andhra Pradesh told Bloomberg News that the provincial government was exploring ways to prohibit social media use by individuals under 16.

More nations adopting measures to curb social media usage

Internationally, more nations are adopting measures to curb usage. Australia pioneered the implementation of a statutory ban, which included Meta Platforms Inc.’s Instagram and Facebook, Snap Inc., Elon Musk’s X, TikTok, and Google’s YouTube. This trend has gained traction in Europe, where Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez described social media as a “failed state.”

“These platforms are jeopardising the mental health, dignity, and rights of our children,” Sanchez said in a post on X Tuesday as he announced the request. “The State cannot allow this. The impunity of these giants must end.”

Roughly ten other regional nations, along with the European Union, are considering comparable constraints.

Instagram and Facebook each have over 400 million Indian users, more than any other nation, according to DataReportal, a repository of global digital trends. Snap Inc.’s Snapchat has over 200 million Indian accounts, making the country its primary market, while X exceeds 20 million users, according to the statistics.

Any initiative to restrict social media access for hundreds of millions of India’s youth would severely impact companies like Meta Platforms Inc.’s Instagram and Facebook, as well as Elon Musk’s X. Furthermore, India serves as a vital data reservoir for AI development.

Technology firms have resisted these prohibitions, labelling them as imprecise tools that are hard to regulate and might trigger unintended consequences, such as migrating users to less regulated platforms.

Vaishnaw made the comments during India’s premier artificial intelligence conference and represents a broader effort to mitigate potential risks posed by major technology conglomerates.

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The government has intensified its monitoring of internet content and communication, enacting rigorous legislation that places the responsibility for detection, deletion, and compliance on tech companies. The nation is also refining regulations to combat AI-generated and deceptive content.

Independently, Spain’s Sanchez also urged the national prosecutor on Tuesday to probe X, TikTok, and Meta regarding the alleged distribution of child sexual abuse imagery.