India Considers Age Verification for Social Media and Dating Apps

The Indian government is weighing significant new regulations that could require mandatory Know Your Customer (KYC) verification and age-based restrictions on social media, dating, and gaming platforms.

A report tabled by the Committee on the Empowerment of Women in Parliament on April 13 recommends shifting from voluntary to compulsory identity verification across major online platforms. If implemented, this would require intermediaries to actively verify user identities, potentially ending much of the current online anonymity on social and dating apps.

The proposals also include age-tiered restrictions for users under 18, with different rules potentially applying to age groups 8–12, 12–16, and 16–18. These could involve time-based limits (such as blocking access during certain hours), daily usage caps, and mandatory parental consent. The government has emphasized that it favors “restrictions, not a ban,” according to officials cited by The Indian Express.

The recommendations stem from concerns over cybercrimes, deepfakes, non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII), and the safety of women and minors online. The report also calls for expanded intermediary liability, faster cybercrime courts, and statutory backing for measures against AI-generated harmful content.

Technology companies including Meta have indicated willingness to comply with uniform rules but warned that fragmented state-level regulations (such as those proposed in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka) could create enforcement challenges. Privacy advocates, including the Internet Freedom Foundation, have criticized blanket approaches, arguing they may disproportionately affect girls’ access to the internet and fail to address underlying issues like weak data protection and low digital literacy.