India discussing age restrictions with social media platforms

India is discussing age-based restrictions with social media companies, IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said

India is discussing age-based restrictions with social media companies, IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said Tuesday, following moves by Australia and other countries to ban young teens from popular platforms.

Vaishnaw, speaking at a global artificial intelligence conference in New Delhi, also said stronger rules were needed on deepfakes, while hailing an expected $200 billion in AI investment over the next two years.

Australia has since December required TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat and a host of other top social media services to remove accounts held by under-16s, or face heavy fines.

Last month, French lawmakers passed a bill that would ban social media use for under-15s, which awaits a Senate vote before becoming law.

"This is something which has now been accepted by many countries that age-based regulation has to be there," Vaishnaw told reporters at the AI Impact Summit.

"Right now we are in a conversation regarding deepfakes, regarding age-based restrictions with the various social media platforms and... what is the right way to go about this," he said.