Australia Bans Social Media For U-16s: Quoted by The Secretariat
From Abhivardhan, our Chairperson
I was recently interviewed by the The Secretariat around Australia Bans Social Media For U-16s.
Read the complete article well-written by Sejal Sharma on the non-legal dimensions, as well, including the introduction of 'virtual autism' in the medical lexicon of India: https://thesecretariat.in/article/teens-face-digital-nightmare-is-social-media-ban-the-answer
Here is an explained and detailed perspective of my views, shared:
1️⃣ While banning apps has worked in the case of certain apps like TikTok largely due to the situation with the digital knowledge & information economy during the Galwan situation in 2020, invoking GATS – we should consider the challenges that blanket bans have on the larger of ecosystem of end-users (children to begin with).
2️⃣ Strategic ways to sensitise and ban might be helpful. Also, the government must consider pursuing self-regulatory guidelines, and ministry-level / department-level action policies – which act on ecosystem apps, and affiliate applications which exploit users of age of 18 and below.
3️⃣ A family-centered approach to social media usage might offer a practical solution that acknowledges the reality of shared devices in many households. This approach focuses on empowering parents and guardians to manage their children's online activities while respecting the family dynamics prevalent in countries like India.
4️⃣ Complementing the family account system, device manufacturers could be encouraged to implement robust parental control features. These controls would operate at the device level, offering a more comprehensive solution that extends beyond individual apps.
5️⃣ I also believe that adjudicatory changes to address the risks can be encouraged by defining general aspects around children data and aspects associated even with underage. However, we should let case laws develop and evolve as well, since we don’t have settled definitions on many legal issues in the domain of information & communication technologies.
What do you think? Also do check up the Orchha AI principles published by the Indian Society of Artificial Intelligence and Law: https://isail.in/the-bharat-pacific-principles/the-orchha-principles-for-ai-and-copyright-in-the-digital-age-%5bthe-orchha-ai-principles%5d