Australia warns social media platforms against age verification for all ahead of ban on children
Melbourne (AP): Australian authorities said Tuesday that social media platforms should not demand age verification for all account holders starting from December, when a ban on children under 16 having accounts goes into effect in the country.
The government released guidelines on how platforms such as TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram should apply the world's first ban on children using social media from December 10. It says verifying the ages of all account holders would be unreasonable.
“We think it would be unreasonable if platforms reverified everyone's age,” said Australia's eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, who drafted the guidelines. Her use of the word “reverified" suggested the platforms usually already had sufficient data to verify a user was older than 16.
She said the platforms have “targeting technology” to focus on those under 16.
"They can target us with deadly precision when it comes to advertising. Certainly they can do this around the age of a child,” she added.
Australia's Parliament enacted the ban last year, giving the platforms a year to work out its implementation. The platforms face fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars (USD33 million) for systemic failures to prevent children younger than 16 from holding accounts.
Critics of the legislation fear that banning young children from social media will impact the privacy of all users who must establish they are older than 16.
Inman Grant said claims the ban would see every Australian account holder subjected to age verification as a “scare tactic.”
Communications Minister Anika Wells said the government seeks to keep platform users' data as private as possible.
“These social media platforms know an awful lot about us" already, Wells said. "If you have been on, for example, Facebook since 2009, then they know you are over 16. There is no need to verify.”
Wells and Inman Grant will travel to the United States next week to discuss the guidelines with the platforms' owners.
Inman Grant said the platforms would need to demonstrate to her agency that they were taking “reasonable steps” to exclude children younger than 16.
“We don't expect that every under-16 account is magically going to disappear on December 10,” Inman Grant said. "What we will be looking at is systemic failures to apply the technologies, policies and processes.”
Melbourne's RMIT University expert on information sciences Lisa Given told Australian Broadcasting Corp. that the government's approach acknowledges that age verification technologies make errors.
“It's going to be up to each of the platforms to determine how they're going to comply and it will be interesting to see if they test the limits of the definition of reasonable steps,'” Given said.
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Human-wildlife conflict: Karnataka minister calls for sterilisation of select species
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Minister Eshwar Khandre on Wednesday said that rising human-wildlife conflict has created a need to consider sterilising specific species, and that the issue should be publicly debated.
He clarified that no decision has been made so far and that discussions will be held with officials and stakeholders.
"There is an increase in the number of select wildlife. In my opinion, putting some curbs on their numbers is necessary due to increased conflicts, loss of lives, and urbanisation. So there is a proposal to conduct sterilisation surgery or vaccination on select wildlife," Minister for Forest, Ecology and Environment said.
Speaking to reporters, he added that no list has been prepared yet and that he plans to hold discussions on the matter with senior officials.
Noting that a related issue is pending before the Supreme Court, the minister said there are plans to submit a proposal after due deliberation.
"We intend to protect wildlife while ensuring that human lives are not lost. No decision has been made yet; it is still under consideration. In areas with a high number of wildlife, we are thinking about controlling it for a year or two. Other states are considering similar measures. There is a need for public debate on this," he added.
Khandre also said the government is seriously considering the voluntary relocation of forest dwellers who wish to move out of the forest. He has asked officials to prepare a list of those willing to relocate.
"Once the list is ready, I will discuss the required funding with the chief minister (Siddaramaiah), who also serves as Finance Minister, and the government will make a decision. Relocating forest dwellers will expand wildlife habitats and integrate those living without basic facilities into mainstream society," he said.
Expressing grief over the death of a coffee grower in Kodagu district due to a wild elephant attack on Wednesday, the minister said the government and the department are making every effort to prevent human-elephant conflict and assured that the government stands with the bereaved family in this difficult time.
"The government had planned to build a sanctuary to address the problem of elephants. There are some difficulties in obtaining permission from the central government. Once this is resolved, action will be taken to establish the sanctuary," he added.
