വാട്‌സാപ്പ് DoB ചോദിക്കുന്നു; ഇന്ത്യയിലും വരുമോ കുട്ടികൾക്ക് സോഷ്യൽ മീഡിയ വിലക്ക്‌?

According to Mathrubhumi News, WhatsApp has begun prompting users for date-of-birth information, sparking widespread speculation regarding the potential implementation of stricter age-gating policies for social media platforms in India. The move is part of a broader global initiative by parent company Meta to enhance safety features and ensure compliance with evolving digital privacy and child protection regulations.

While the platform has not issued a definitive mandate for Indian users, the request for age verification aligns with increasing scrutiny from global regulators regarding the access of minors to social media environments. Tech companies are under mounting pressure to implement robust age-verification tools to prevent underage users from accessing content deemed inappropriate or harmful, a challenge that has become a central focus of digital policy debates in both the European Union and the United States.

In the Indian context, the discourse surrounding social media regulation is heavily influenced by the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules. Experts suggest that if such verification measures were to become mandatory, they would likely be integrated into the broader framework of digital identity verification currently being debated by policymakers. For now, users are seeing these prompts as part of an iterative update process, though the industry anticipates that more stringent age-based access controls may become a standard requirement for major platforms operating within the country.