The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) invited civil society organizations and technology policy think tanks to a closed-door roundtable meeting to discuss children’s online safety, age limits and regulation of platforms at the ministry’s office in New Delhi on July 27.
The consultation in collaboration with social impact consultancy Space2Grow will be chaired by MeitY secretary S Krishnan, according to the invitation sent to the organizations and seen by HT.
“This grassroots effort will allow your organization to play a meaningful role in informing MeitY’s regulatory approach moving forward,” the invitation reads.
However, a government official, who requested anonymity, said the consultation itself should not be interpreted as an indication that the government has decided to take measures for social media platforms. This exercise aims to collect evidence before making any political decisions.
Separately, MeitY is also looking to conduct a study to assess the harms faced by children on social media and understand the current landscape before deciding whether any intervention is necessary on the regulatory front, another government official said.
The July 27 consultation is certainly separate from the study the ministry is planning.
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One of the officials cited above added that MeitY has in the past held multiple consultations with intermediaries like Google, Meta, Snapchat, etc. to discuss the matter, but has for now ruled out the possibility of a completely new law to ban social media for children, although other policy interventions are still under discussion.
During one such consultation, social media platform Snapchat proposed tiered restrictions that would block only certain types of content for children, an approach the government considered one of several policy options, the official cited above said.
July 27 consultation
The call for consultation was sent to organizations working closely with children on the ground and policy-level organizations working on technology policy.
“Bringing the two together in one conversation will help build a shared understanding of the issue and help inform organizing grounded in evidence and lived experience,” the invitation said.
The list of invitees includes tech policy and digital rights organizations such as The Dialogue, Internet Freedom Foundation, The Quantum Hub and others, a person familiar with the matter said.
Attending organizations will be asked to prepare with a brief written presentation drawn from their field work, community-level work, and policy work with children, covering the challenges children face around safety and regulation, what they hear directly from children and communities, and what possible solutions they suggest towards key points around age-gating and age-assurance in the context of children’s digital spaces.
Space2Grow declined to comment on the story.
