Can India Implement Strict Age Verification On Social Apps Without Breaking Privacy?

Social media has been a pretty vulnerable place to be since the very beginning. Add kids to the same, and you have a recipe for disaster. Multiple platforms like Instagram, Facebook, X, Snapchat, and others are filled with degenerates who track kids down for all the wrong reasons. And if not that, then we have a lot of content on these platforms that is available without any filters.To curb this problem, Australia took an aggressive approach and banned social media for all kids under the age of 16. This was followed by the European Union dropping an age verification application to keep children safe online. Amidst all this, the chatter around making India a country where we have strict regulations for children using social media has been going

on for a while, with state governments working at a fast pace. Now, moving forward, let's have a look at the practicality of introducing an EU-like app in India to restrict social networks for kids.

European Union, Kids, And Social Media

The European Union has always taken swift and aggressive decisions, whether we talk about the removal of lightning cables or bringing an app for age verification. The latest app by the EU cuts down on data storage and works on an ecosystem that never reveals your credentials. For example, as a user, for the very first time, you need to verify your age through a trusted source like a government digital ID system, identity wallet, or telecom provider. After that, you get a digital credential in a secure app revealing only "User is 18+." Now, you can use this digital credential on any application to verify your age without revealing your identity. Sounds like magic and poses zero risk to privacy, right? Straight up wrong, and we will discuss further why.

The Flaws In EU's Age Verification App

Security researchers have already started finding vulnerabilities in the system and have stated how easy it is to bypass a system like this one using VPNs or shared devices. And yes, facial recognition is still not as accurate as you might think after watching all those sci-fi movies and web shows. UK-based cybersecurity consultant Paul Moore found that the app has a weak authentication design, weak enough to get hacked in a couple of minutes by professionals.

The India Problem And Why We Can't Follow In The Footsteps Of The EU

Until now, there have been no strict rules in India regarding age verification on these platforms. For years, people have been self-verifying their age and using platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and more without any hassle. India already has an age verification application dubbed MeriPehchaan, but most of you have not even heard of it until now.This is the biggest problem in India right now to tackle if the government wants to take the path of age verification. And there's more, as India is a country where smartphones are cheaper, and data is the cheapest. Currently, social media addiction is so widespread that you can spot a person using one of these platforms every ten seconds around you, and that also includes kids with phones. As for going the European Union way, that is nothing less than a nightmare in India on both the government and administrative levels. Shared device usage is also high in India. What, you will block the accounts of those under 16 years of age? There will always be elders around them who will use social media as bait to make these kids study or work.

What's The Best Move For India As A Country?

Dropping an app like that is not going to solve a lot of problems in India, and it will never be able to stop children from using social media. However, things like platform accountability and better interfaces, or rather cleaner ones, for young users, could push Indian society towards better safety for kids without annihilating privacy.On a concluding note, rushing to control everything is never going to be the answer to restricting kids from social media, at least for India. The cases like cyberbullying, online grooming, blackmailing the kids, and other heinous acts is on the rise. And as citizens, parents, elders of a family, we need to understand that restrictions are not the solutions and most of them only create more curiosity to see what's on the other side. The country could do much better in this direction if the approach is not something that screams control and zero privacy.