India’s current legal framework addresses harmful online content and child sexual exploitation but lacks comprehensive measures to mitigate risks from platform design features, according to a report by NALSAR University of Law and the Indian Governance and Policy Project (IGAP). The report highlights gaps in laws related to recommendation systems and engagement-driven features that affect children’s safety online.
The report, titled ‘The Child Safety Imperative: Age-Appropriate Digital Governance Pathways for India’, reviews existing regulations such as Section 67B of the IT Act, which criminalises child sexual exploitation material, and Section 79 along with IT Rules that impose due diligence on intermediaries. However, it finds these focus mainly on unlawful content rather than the design elements of platforms that can harm children. The 2026 IT Rules amendments also cover synthetic content like deepfakes but do not address platform design risks.
This analysis comes amid moves by states including Karnataka, Goa, and Andhra Pradesh to introduce age-based restrictions on children’s social media access. At the national level, the Supreme Court has asked the Union Government to consider statutory rules for minors’ social media use, and the Centre is exploring graded restrictions. The report recommends a dedicated online child safety framework emphasizing safety-by-design, platform accountability, and privacy-preserving age verification to better protect children.
The report’s findings underscore the need for India to develop laws that go beyond content regulation to include platform design safeguards. The full report is available on Medianama, providing detailed pathways for age-appropriate digital governance in India.