Age-Gating: Government plans 'risk-based' framework for social media, says report; experts explain the importance
Meta-owned Facebook, Instagram and Google's YouTube, along with all edtech and health platforms, the report further added. In the new framework, age verification for minors is expected to be done using document stores in DigiLocker, Aadhaar-based verification, A Digital Token or the App Store level, according to a government official, as quoted by ET. "There cannot be a one-size-fits-all approach here," the official said, as quoted in the report.
"Social media companies will need to adhere to stricter age-gating as the possibility of a stranger getting in touch with children or vice-versa is much greater here, compared to say, an education app or a website." "More and more children are getting addicted to mobile phones. Social media addiction is leading to mobile addiction, affecting the mental and intellectual growth of children. The second impact is cyberbullying and grooming.
Children get into interactions with online predators. Leading to various cases of child sexual harassment, grooming and child bullying on social media platforms. This is one of the reasons that the government is bringing age gating to mandate the verification of social media users' ages in India," said Jiten Jain, Cyber Expert and director of Voyager Infosec.
"Almost 35 per cent of social media users in India are minors. Unfortunately, today, social media users are starting at a very young age. Many times parents hand over the phone to kids just to keep them occupied.
Leading to children accessing YouTube, Facebook and other platforms. The starting age group of social media users in India is growing younger and younger. The maximum number of minor social media users falls between the age range of 10-17 years old.
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