WhatsApp’s age confirmation test puts Meta at center of child safety fight
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Meta Platforms Inc.’s WhatsApp is testing a new feature that lets users in India add their date of birth, an update to the massively popular messaging service in its largest market.
Screenshots circulating online in recent days show a box that appeared atop the app for some users saying, “Add your date of birth. Upcoming laws in India require us to ask for your age.”
“To comply with upcoming laws in India like the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, we are testing privacy-protective ways for people to confirm their age,” a WhatsApp spokesperson said in response to a query.
A provision of the act on the processing of personal data of children calls for age verification measures to determine whether users are under the age of 18.
WhatsApp has more than 600 million users in the South Asian nation.
Governments around the world have been enacting or weighing bans on children under 16 using social media, though countries such as Australia haven’t included WhatsApp in their rules.
Tests of the new feature come amid heightened tension with the Indian government. Meta on Wednesday said it had apologized to officials for temporarily restricting a Facebook post by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in which he addressed students over examination paper leaks that prompted nationwide protests.
Meta, based in Menlo Park, Calif., has also drawn India’s scrutiny for sexual content involving children on its platforms including Instagram. Meta said it’s constantly improving defenses and that it has zero tolerance for such content.
Separately, the federal tech ministry has also asked WhatsApp to delay the launch of its new username feature — which allows users to connect without sharing numbers — over impersonation and digital arrest concerns.
The new age-check feature is an optional test, and users do not need to confirm their age to continue using WhatsApp, the company said.
“This doesn’t change how WhatsApp works or your experience,” the spokesperson said. “We understand that information about someone’s age is private and it won’t be shared with other WhatsApp users.”
Purnell writes for Bloomberg.
