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Online safety

Children and young people online: age limits, the data law and the duty of platforms.

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Children's social media: the Ministry's consultation and a code of conduct

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UpdatePrelims and Mains20 Aug 2026

Latest position, 20 August 2026

  • On 20 August 2026 the Secretary of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology chaired a closed door consultation with civil society and research bodies, among them the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, on children's safety on social media.
  • The discussion covered age gating and platform regulation, whether a new law, the Information Technology Act or guidelines should carry it, a legally enforceable duty of care for platforms, safety by design, and research on how Indian children use the internet. The view in the room, as reported, was that a complete ban would not work; the risks from AI chatbots and gaming platforms were raised alongside social media.
  • The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights is drafting a social media code of conduct for Instagram, Facebook, X and Snapchat with the Ministry, the Department of Telecommunications and the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre; it would be guidance, backed by the Commission's statutory powers under the Commissions for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005.
  • No age threshold, verification method or timeline was announced; the proposal to restrict users under 16, floated in July on the Australian model, stays a proposal.

Background

  • Restricting children's social media: the under 16 proposal (July lead): the Australian ban in force from December 2025, the Secretary's statement of July that the Ministry was consulting stakeholders on an under 16 restriction, and the Digital Personal Data Protection Rules' verifiable parental consent for anyone under 18.

Read the earlier article: Restricting children's social media: the under 16 proposal

Sources
  • MediaNama, 28 August 2026
  • Telangana Today, 19 July 2026

Restricting children's social media: the under 16 proposal

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LeadPrelims and Mains19 Jul 2026

Read the lead

Updated, 20 Aug 2026: Children's social media: the Ministry's consultation and a code of conduct