Australia to ban social media for children under 16 from next week; Karan Patel urges India to follow the law

Karan Patel backs Australia's new law

Popular television actor Karan Patel, widely recognised for his role in Yeh Hai Mohabbatein, recently turned heads on Instagram with a video highlighting a landmark new regulation in Australia aimed at protecting children online.

The clip explained that from December 10, social media platforms in Australia will be required to remove users under the age of 16.

Supported by regulatory authorities, the guidance mandates that platforms take “reasonable steps to detect and deactivate underage accounts” and prevent attempts to bypass the rules. It also emphasised the need for an accessible complaints process, transparency in age verification systems, and adherence to laws that are “effective, private and fair.”

Accompanying the video, Karan Patel wrote: “Sincerely hope and pray for the sake of our coming generation, INDIAN GOVT too FOR ONCE acts IN FAVOUR OF its CITIZENS and NOT THEMSELVES.” The original clip’s caption underlined the magnitude of the move: “Australia just changed the Internet forever.”

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The regulations are part of Australia’s effort to shield children from online harms such as inappropriate content, privacy breaches, and digital exploitation. The authorities hope to provide families with peace of mind and a safer online environment by enforcing more stringent age verification and compliance procedures.

Although there have been ongoing conversations about child safety online in India, there isn't currently a national law akin to Australia's.

Social media platforms must report monthly how many children’s accounts they close once Australia begins enforcing its 16-year age limit next week, a minister said Wednesday.

Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Reddit, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X and YouTube would face fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) from Dec. 10 if they fail to take reasonable steps to remove accounts of Australian children younger than 16. Livestreaming service Twitch was added to the list of age-restricted platforms less than two weeks ago.

The Australian eSafety Commissioner will send the 10 platforms notices on Dec. 11 demanding information about the numbers of accounts removed. Monthly notices would follow for six months.

Google said that anyone in Australia under 16 would be signed out of its platform YouTube from Dec. 10 and lose features accessible only to account holders such as playlists.

Google would determine YouTube account holders' ages based on personal data contained in associated Google accounts and other signals. (With inputs from AP)