The Government of India has implemented a comprehensive strategy to promote digital well-being, user safeguards, and responsible participation. The measures aim to protect children from harmful content, digital addiction, and financial harm.
The Government of India is taking significant steps to ensure a safe and accountable digital environment for its users, particularly focusing on the protection of children. According to the Press Information Bureau, the Information Technology Act, 2000 ('IT Act'), and the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 ('IT Rules'), together, have established a framework to promote digital well-being, user safeguards, and responsible digital participation.
Obligations of intermediaries include observing due diligence while discharging their duties and informing users not to host, display, upload, modify, publish, transmit, update, or share any information that is harmful to children or violates any law for the time being in force. Recent amendments to IT Rules require social media platforms and other intermediaries to remove unlawful content within three hours of the receipt of an order of a court of competent jurisdiction or reasoned intimation by the Appropriate Government or its agency.
The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 ('DPDP Act') has been enacted which establishes the legal framework to regulate the processing of digital personal data. The DPDP Act provides a legal framework for safeguarding children’s privacy online. It mandates parental consent for processing children’s personal data and prohibits practices detrimental to their well-being such as tracking, behavioral monitoring or targeted advertising towards children.
The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, represents a major step to address digital addiction and financial harm among youth. Section 79(3) (b) of IT Act, 2000 provides for notification to the intermediaries for removing/disabling access to unlawful content. Based on complaints, the Government regularly takes action against such intermediaries and OTT Platforms. The government has disabled 50 OTT Platforms for public access in India in the last two years for displaying obscene content and violating relevant sections of the IT Act.
The Economic Survey 2025-26 mentions digital addiction as a serious public health challenge affecting India's children and youth. The Survey further highlights its profound impacts on cognitive development, academic performance, workplace productivity, social connectedness, and mental health, manifesting as anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, cyber bullying, and financial losses from compulsive gaming, social media, and online gambling.
Awareness campaigns are being implemented by the government, including 'Information Security Education and Awareness (ISEA)' project, PRAGYATA Guidelines on Digital Education, guidelines on digital etiquette, cyber-security training for teachers, publication of the ‘Cyber Security Handbook’, advisories to schools for establishing Cyber Clubs, and incorporation of cyber safety in the curriculum.
Source:
Press Information Bureau
