Delhi will host a roundtable discussion on July 31 to address age verification and social media restrictions for children. The event, scheduled from 12:30 PM to 5 PM at The Claridges, will bring together policymakers, technologists, lawyers, researchers, mental health professionals, and industry experts to explore whether restricting children's access to social media effectively addresses underlying harms, and to examine alternative approaches such as platform design interventions, according to medianama.com.
The invite-only discussion will follow the Chatham House Rule, with participation subject to approval. The agenda includes a lunch and networking session from 12:30 PM to 1 PM, followed by the main roundtable from 1 PM to 5 PM. Confirmed speakers include Apar Gupta, founder of the Internet Freedom Foundation; Snehashish Ghosh, founder of TechNiti; Dr Monalisa Palit, senior consultant in clinical psychology at VIMHANS; and other experts from legal, psychiatric, and academic fields, medianama.com reported.
This event comes amid growing concerns about the impact of social media on children’s mental health and safety. The discussion aims to evaluate the effectiveness of age verification methods and explore whether platform design changes could offer a more nuanced alternative to outright bans. The involvement of diverse stakeholders highlights the complexity of balancing child protection with digital rights, reflecting a broader global debate on regulating children’s online access.
Registrations for the roundtable closed at 3 PM on July 30. The event will provide a platform for in-depth dialogue on policy and technological solutions for social media regulation concerning children, with insights expected to influence future regulatory approaches in India.
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