India discussing age restrictions with social media platforms

What Happened

The Union Government confirmed it is in active discussions with major social media platforms to introduce age-based access restrictions, likely barring or limiting access for users under 16.
IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw stated the government is in conversation with platforms on both deepfakes and age-based restrictions, signalling a coordinated multi-issue approach to digital safety.
The government is not considering an outright ban for teenagers but a calibrated approach — certain types of accounts or content would be inaccessible to minors.
State governments have also moved: Andhra Pradesh formed a Group of Ministers to study whether under-16s should be barred from social media, examining Australia's law, Indian regulations, and enforcement feasibility. Goa is separately evaluating similar measures.
The development follows Australia's landmark Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024, which came into force on 10 December 2025 and requires platforms to prevent under-16s from holding accounts.
India's Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act 2023 already mandates verifiable parental consent before processing data of anyone under 18, but age-gating social media access is a distinct regulatory step beyond data protection.

Static Topic Bridges

Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023

The DPDP Act is India's primary legislation governing personal data, enacted in August 2023. It defines a child as anyone under 18 and places stringent obligations on data fiduciaries — entities that process personal data. Platforms must obtain verifiable parental or guardian consent before processing a child's data.

Section 9 prohibits tracking, behavioural monitoring, and targeted advertising directed at children.
Penalties for non-compliance with child data provisions can reach ₹200 crore.
The Act's threshold of 18 years is stricter than GDPR (13–16 years) and the US COPPA (13 years).
Draft DPDP Rules 2025 require platforms to verify the user's age, the guardian's identity, and their legal relationship.

Connection to this news: Age restrictions on social media access would complement the DPDP Act's data-protection framework — the Act governs how children's data is processed once they are on a platform, while the proposed restrictions would govern whether they can access the platform at all.

IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021

The IT Rules 2021 regulate social media companies operating in India, classifying those with more than 50 lakh (5 million) registered users as Significant Social Media Intermediaries (SSMIs). SSMIs face heightened compliance obligations including appointing a Chief Compliance Officer, a Grievance Officer, and a 24×7 Nodal Contact Person, all resident in India.

SSMIs must proactively identify and prevent dissemination of child sexual abuse material and other unlawful content.
Unlawful content must be removed within 36 hours of notification.
Subsequent 2023 amendments introduced rules on deepfakes and synthetic media.
The government is now considering further amendments specifically targeting child access controls.

Connection to this news: Any mandatory age-verification mechanism for minors would require amendment of or a new rule under the IT Rules 2021, obligating SSMIs to implement technical measures to verify user age before account creation.

Australia became the first major democracy to legislatively ban under-16s from social media when the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024 passed on 29 November 2024 and came into force on 10 December 2025.

Platforms affected include Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, X (Twitter), Reddit, YouTube, Twitch, Threads, and Kick.
Penalties for non-compliant platforms reach up to AUD 49.5 million per violation.
The law targets platforms, not children or families — young people themselves face no penalties.
Exemptions exist for messaging apps, educational services, online gaming, and health support platforms.

Connection to this news: India's discussions explicitly reference the Australian law as a model, with state-level committees (Andhra Pradesh, Goa) conducting comparative studies of the Australian legislation before recommending India's approach.

Children's Online Safety — Global Regulatory Landscape

Multiple countries are moving toward tighter regulation of minors' access to social media. The UK's Online Safety Act 2023, France's 2023 law requiring parental consent for under-15s, and US state-level laws in Utah and Florida all restrict minors on social platforms. This marks a global shift from content moderation to access restriction as the primary child safety mechanism.

EU's GDPR sets data processing age at 13–16 (member state discretion); the EU Digital Services Act requires platforms to provide child-safe modes.
Age-verification technology options include government ID checks, facial age estimation, and device-based parental controls — all carry privacy trade-offs.
Enforcement is the key challenge: children can misrepresent age, use VPNs, or borrow parents' accounts.

Connection to this news: India's consideration of under-16 restrictions places it within a global regulatory convergence — the specific calibration (ban vs. parental-consent model vs. content restrictions) will define how India's approach compares internationally.

Key Facts & Data

India had approximately 467 million social media users as of 2025, the second-largest user base globally after China.
The DPDP Act 2023 was passed in August 2023; the Draft DPDP Rules were published in January 2025.
Australia's social media age ban came into force on 10 December 2025 — making it the world's strictest law at the time.
SSMIs under IT Rules 2021 are those with more than 50 lakh registered users in India.
Andhra Pradesh and Goa are the first Indian states to form committees examining sub-16 social media restrictions.
Non-compliance with DPDP child-data provisions can attract penalties of up to ₹200 crore.
India's IT Rules define children as those under 18 for content classification; the proposed age-restriction discussions focus on under-16.