NEW DELHI: In what could be an indication that the Centre is actively weighing tighter age-based controls on social media, PM Narendra Modi has praised Australia’s decision to bar children under 16 from accessing these platforms and said India was drawing lessons from the move.At the Australia-India leaders’ summit, Modi Thursday said Australia’s efforts to reform laws related to information technology and social media were “highly inspiring for the world” and added that India was “learning a lot” from those measures.Australia was the first country to impose a nationwide ban on social media access for those under 16, covering platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, X, TikTok, YouTube and Snapchat.The PM’s remarks come amid growing govt focus on online safety for minors. Earlier this year, IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had said that the Centre was in discussions with social media companies on age-based safeguards, and industry reports indicated that IT ministry officials had since held multiple meetings with platforms and other stakeholders.Last week, govt directed Instagram to remove advertisements linked to child sexual abuse, while a June report by the home ministry highlighted the use of Telegram for sharing child sexual abuse material.Several states have announced plans to restrict social media access for children. Karnataka has proposed a ban for users below 16 years and Andhra Pradesh for those below 13. Goa is examining similar measures. However, states do not have the mandate to regulate communications, although they can use other grounds to block social media access for kids.Any nationwide restriction would face significant challenges in India, which has over 1.1 billion smartphone connections and one of the world’s largest populations of young internet users.
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