NCPCR preparing safety guidelines for social media platforms

The work of preparing guidelines for social media and online gaming platforms to improve child safety by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has reached its final stages. According to a report by Hindustan Times, the Commission held a 'final stakeholder meeting' with companies on Thursday to prepare the final draft of these guidelines. Under this process, the aim is to release the final guidelines in the first half of 2027.

In the meeting held on Thursday, representatives from social media and online gaming companies were present and gave presentations regarding their current child safety tools, awareness programmes for children, parents, and caregivers, and future steps. An NCPCR official, speaking on condition of anonymity, stated that this draft guideline will be released in the month of December for public opinion. A total of 16 companies, including Meta, Google, Snapchat, ShareChat, Reddit, and the gaming platform Roblox, participated in this consultation meeting.

The main objective of these guidelines is to reduce legal activities performed by platforms that are harmful to children. For instance, the habit of scrolling reels which can make people addicted, and algorithms that may repeatedly show harmful content. The official stated that although these activities are legal, they are detrimental to children. The aim of these guidelines is not to impose a ban on children's use of social media, but to make it safe for them. Since imposing legal restrictions may take time, the Commission wants platforms to adhere to uniform safety standards in the interim.

Prior to the meeting, the Commission had prepared a checklist of proposed child safety measures, named the 'Child Safety Implementation Matrix'. Platforms were asked whether every safety parameter is already in place, whether they are considering implementing them, and if they have any additional suggestions. This matrix includes issues such as safety by design, age assurance and age-appropriate experiences, protection of children's data, detection and enforcement against child sexual abuse and exploitation material (CSEAM), addiction-free design and digital well-being, reporting and timely redressal, as well as the empowerment of children and parents.

According to the NCPCR, this initiative is crucial considering the increasing use of digital platforms by children and concerns regarding harmful content, cyberbullying, online grooming, child sexual abuse and exploitation material (CSEAM), privacy violations, and other types of online exploitation. These concerns emphasise the need for robust safety, greater awareness, and increased accountability for digital platforms.

This consultation process began on 22 May with a meeting with social media and technology companies, where discussions were held regarding safety systems, content moderation, and grievance redressal. Subsequently, the Commission held separate consultations with individual companies. On 24 July, consultations were held with civil society organisations to include their suggestions in the matrix, and on 19 October, separate discussions were held with online gaming platforms. If these guidelines are violated, the NCPCR has the capacity to recommend action to the relevant authorities using the statutory powers under the Commission for Protection of Child Rights (CPCR) Act.