India's Under-18s May Need Parents' Nod to Join Social Media

Proposed rules to protect personal data of children include ads targeted at them

- Nirmala Ganapathy

Youth under the age of 18 may soon need to get their parents' consent to create a social media account in India, as the government moves forward on adding a layer of protection for young users' data even as it steers clear of a blanket ban like in Australia.

The government's proposed Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025 are intended to operationalise the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act that was passed by Parliament in 2023.

They make it mandatory for social media firms and other online entities to secure the "verifiable consent of the parent" before processing the personal data of a child.

A draft version of the rules was made public on Jan 3 for public consultation.

Once the rules are formalised, companies that seek to process the personal data of children - for example, while opening a social media account - will require the parents' authorisation for this purpose. The parents' identity will be verified on the basis of government-issued identification documents.

For parents like Ms Sunayana Baruah, whose son is 10 years old, the proposed rules are more than welcome.

"It's great this rule is coming in and the government is taking some action. We can have a little bit of a breather," she said.

Ms Baruah said she restricts but does not completely prevent her son from using the internet, so that he can remain connected with his peers.

When he was not allowed to go online at all, she said she realised "that he was totally disconnected from all the other kids (at the park) who played games regularly. He came back very sad that he had nothing to talk about with his friends. So I realised he can't be totally away" from the internet.

"So now I ration his screen time. He mainly plays games."