The Government has put in place multiple legal and regulatory safeguards to address potential risks arising from artificial intelligence and related technologies, particularly those affecting children, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw informed the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
Responding to a query in Parliament, the minister said India’s artificial intelligence strategy is based on the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to democratise technology, address India-specific challenges and improve the lives of citizens. At the same time, the government remains conscious of the possible harms that may arise from emerging digital technologies and has introduced safeguards to mitigate such risks.
Legal protections for children
The minister highlighted that the Information Technology Act, 2000 and related rules require intermediaries such as social media platforms to prevent the hosting or sharing of harmful content involving children, including sexually explicit material and content promoting violence.
Under these provisions, platforms must remove unlawful content within three hours of being notified by the government or a court order. For non-consensual sexual or intimate content, the removal timeline is two hours. Platforms are also required to report offences to authorities under relevant laws such as the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023.
Safeguards under data protection law
The minister also cited provisions under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, which applies to personal data collected through technologies including AI-powered devices and toys.
The law mandates verifiable parental consent before processing the personal data of children and prohibits behavioural monitoring, tracking or targeted advertising directed at them. Operational mechanisms such as identity and age verification measures and virtual tokens have been prescribed to ensure compliance.
In addition, the Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules, 2011 require organisations to collect personal data only for specified purposes and obtain consent before sharing it.
Responsible AI development
The government has also issued the India AI Governance Guidelines, which emphasise a human-centric and responsible approach to AI development. These guidelines recognise children as a vulnerable group and recommend risk assessment frameworks to monitor potential harms from AI systems.
Cyber safety awareness initiatives
The minister said the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) regularly publishes safety tips, awareness posters, infographics and videos to sensitise internet users about online safety for children.
Under the Information Security Education and Awareness (ISEA) programme, over 4,300 workshops have been conducted across the country, covering more than 9.63 lakh participants including students, teachers, law enforcement personnel and government officials.
More than 1.13 lakh teachers, police personnel and volunteers have also been trained as master trainers, while indirect outreach programmes have reached an estimated 15 crore beneficiaries, the minister said.
Measures to tackle cybercrime
To strengthen the national response to cybercrime, the Ministry of Home Affairs operates the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, enabling citizens to report cyber offences with a special focus on crimes against children.
The government has also set up the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) to ensure coordinated action against cybercrime, including online child exploitation.
Authorities regularly block websites hosting child sexual abuse material based on inputs from Interpol, routed through the Central Bureau of Investigation. Internet service providers have also been directed to block such websites using global databases such as the Internet Watch Foundation in the UK and Project Arachnid in Canada.
The government has also signed a memorandum of understanding between the National Crime Records Bureau and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in the United States to share tipline reports on online child sexual exploitation for prompt action by authorities.
In addition, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has conducted studies and issued guidelines on cyber safety, including resources such as the “Being Safe Online” awareness material for children, parents and educators.
