Government strengthens safeguards against digital addiction: legal framework, child online safety and cyber awareness
Legal safeguards, child online safety rules, and cyber-awareness measures to curb digital addiction and harmful online content
- The ministry presented India’s legal and awareness framework as part of an Open, Safe, Trusted and Accountable Internet.
- The ISEA project is being used to build information-security human resources and raise cyber-hygiene awareness.
- The Act protects children’s online privacy by requiring parental consent and restricting harmful tracking, behavioural monitoring, and targeted advertising.
- The survey identifies digital addiction as a serious public-health challenge for children and youth.
India’s digital-safety framework now combines intermediary due diligence, child-data protection, regulation of online gaming, and cyber-awareness campaigns. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology says these measures are meant to support an Open, Safe, Trusted and Accountable Internet, especially for children and young users.
What happened
The Union Government informed Lok Sabha on 22 July 2026 that India already has a legal and institutional framework to address digital addiction, harmful content, and child online safety. The framework draws on the Information Technology Act, 2000, the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, and the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025.
UPSC can frame the issue as a governance and cybersecurity question on how India balances free use of digital platforms with intermediary due diligence, child privacy, regulation of online gaming, and removal of unlawful content. A Mains answer can discuss legal safeguards, public-awareness measures, and the public-health costs of compulsive digital use.
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