On the footsteps of Australia, India may consider enacting similar legislation to ban social media use for children under 16, as suggested by the Madras High Court. The court further recommended that, until such a law is passed, authorities intensify their awareness campaigns to protect young users.
The recommendation from the Madras High Court emerged following a Public Interest Litigation submitted in 2018, which raised worries about the availability of pornographic material and its easy accessibility to children.
A division bench consisting of Justice G Jayachandran and Justice K K Ramakrishnan recently made remarks while issuing orders on a public interest litigation (PIL) that requested internet service providers (ISPs) to provide parental control services, due to the easy access and availability of pornographic content to young children. The judges recognized the significant risk faced by children on the internet and stressed that parents have a greater responsibility to protect them.
“Centre may explore the possibility of passing legislation like Australia. Till such legislation is passed, the authorities concerned shall accelerate their awareness campaign more effectively, they shall take the message to the vulnerable group through all available media,” the judges said, according to TOI report.
Australia's Social Media Ban
Australia became the first country to ban social media accounts for users under 16, starting December 3. Social media platforms had to deactivate accounts of under-16s and stop them from creating new ones. If the eSafety commissioner found that the platforms didn’t take enough action, they could be fined up to $49.5 million.