India, Dec. 22 -- Australia's decision to bar children under the age of 16 from accessing social media platforms has placed the country at the centre of a global debate on online safety, regulation and free expression. The law, which applies to major platforms such as TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook, requires companies to prevent under-age access or face fines of up to AUD 49.5 million. Within days of implementation, hundreds of thousands of accounts were removed, with regulators estimating that around one million children are affected.

As governments worldwide watch closely, the question is whether such a model is feasible, or desirable, for a country like India, which has one of the world's largest adolescent populations and a ...