New Delhi: The Indian government is considering imposing age-based restrictions on social media platforms as part of broader efforts to safeguard children and society from online harms, Union Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced on Tuesday.
Speaking at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in the capital, Vaishnaw said the government is in active discussions with major global technology companies—including Netflix, YouTube, Meta (Facebook, Instagram) and X—to explore how age-gating mechanisms could be introduced and enforced in India.
“Right now, we are in conversation regarding deepfakes, regarding age-based restrictions with the various social media platforms and… what is the right way to go about this,” Vaishnaw said, underscoring that any regulation must align with India’s legal framework and the Constitution, as reported by Mint.
The minister highlighted that the issue of deepfakes and synthetic media is growing rapidly, and that stronger regulatory safeguards are needed to protect users from misinformation, fraud and other harms. He noted that the government has already tightened rules requiring platforms to label AI-generated content and to act quickly on content takedown requests.
Vaishnaw pointed to global policy trends, noting that many countries—including Australia, which recently enacted a ban on social media account creation by children under 16—have embraced age-based regulation as a means to protect young users.
While no formal age-based law has yet been enacted in India, officials said consultations could influence amendments to existing digital and data protection laws, such as the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, which already requires verifiable parental consent for the processing of minors’ personal data.
