88% parents surveyed in favour of DPDP rules mandating that platforms identify any minor accounts with age misrepresented and proactively either seek parental consent or shut such accounts

February 26, 2025, New Delhi: The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has signaled its openness to introducing further clarifications in the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Rules, 2025, released for consultation on January 3. The willingness to make the rules more robust was indicated during a closed-door industry consultation, a media report states. Information Technology (IT) Secretary S Krishnan has stated that while technological solutions exist to detect children online, but platforms have been unwilling to implement them. “Now we are telling in the law (draft Digital Personal Data Protection Rules) that they will have to do this [detect who is a child and who is an adult],” he told media.

“The DPDP Act and its Draft Rules reflect our commitment to creating a digital world where children’s privacy is prioritized, and their rights are respected. We stand at a pivotal moment in the digital era – where children’s safety and privacy are no longer optional but essential,” Vikash Chourasia, scientist, MeitY, stated in a social media post.

Earlier this month, the US Federal Trade Commission finalized changes to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule around the collection, use and disclosure of children’s personal information and gives parents new tools and protections to help them control what data is provided to third parties about their children. The final rule requires parents to opt into third-party advertising and addresses the emerging ways that consumers’ data is collected and used by companies, and particularly how children’s data is being shared and monetized.

A study commissioned by Ofcom, the regulator for the communications service in the UK, found that most children aged between 8 and 17 (77%) who use social media now have their own profile on at least one of the large platforms. And despite most platforms having a minimum age of 13, the research by Yonder Consulting suggests that 6 in 10 (60%) children aged 8 to 12 who use these platforms are signed up with their own profile. Among this underage group (8 to 12s), up to half had set up at least one of their profiles themselves, while up to two-thirds had help from a parent or guardian, the report updated last year states.

When a child self-declares a false age to gain access to social media or online games, as they get older, so does their claimed user age. This means they could be placed at greater risk of encountering age-inappropriate or harmful content online. Once a user reaches age 16 or 18, some platforms, for example, introduce certain features and functionalities not available to younger users – such as direct messaging and the ability to see adult content. The internet can pose several other serious dangers to children. “It is hard for teenagers, in particular, to consider how a party picture or Snapchat message could cause problems ten years down the road when they interview for a new job, or how a prospective mate might respond to personal content that they post to their social media profiles or other websites.” advises kaspersky.com in a report on ‘Internet Safety for Kids’.

It is hoped that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, which has released the draft rules for the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act after a long wait of 16 months and invited public inputs via the MyGov portal by February 18, will plug the loopholes that place minors at risk. The rules require that parental consent be implemented by social media, OTT and online gaming platforms. However, one of the major question that parents have been discussing on LocalCircles is how to make parental consent work for existing accounts that children have on such platforms. According to some parents, many children have falsely represented their age when signing up on the platforms and with no checks and balances existing on most platforms, they were able to sign up and use such platforms. Most parents believe that for the DPDP regulation to be effective, it is critical that the existing accounts where children are using social media, online gaming and OTT platforms as an adult user are called out, consented upon, reconfigured for appropriate use or be shut. To understand some of the solutions discussed by parents and consented upon, LocalCircles conducted a national survey which received over 44,000 responses from parents of school children located in over 349 districts of the country. 61% respondents were men while 39% respondents were women. 44% respondents were from tier 1, 27% from tier 2 and 29% respondents were from tier 3 and 4 districts.

88% parents surveyed in favour of DPDP rules mandating that platforms (social media, OTT, online gaming, etc.) identify any minor accounts with age misrepresented and proactively either seek parental consent or shut such accounts

Considering that children often cite wrong age on internet platforms, the survey first asked parents, “Per the LocalCircles recommendation over the last 5 years, Government of India via its DPDP rules released recently has mandated parental consent for children under 18 to join social media, OTT/video and online gaming platforms. However, in the event a child wrongly states their age as over 18, the platforms are likely to permit them to open an account without parental consent. Should the rules also make it mandatory for platforms to identify such misuse proactively and shut such accounts?” Out of 21,760 who responded to the question 88% stated “yes, absolutely”; 4% of respondents stated “no, let the child usage continue”; 4% of respondents did not give a clear answer while 4% of respondents stated that the question is “not applicable (do not have a child or grandchild in our family under the age of 18 and hence no opinion). To sum up, 88% of parents surveyed are in favour of DPDP rules mandating that platforms (social media, OTT, online gaming, etc.) identify any minor accounts with age misrepresented and proactively either seek parental consent or shut such accounts.

58% of parents surveyed approve of the usage of profile information, user content consumption patterns, friends list, etc. by platforms to proactively identify accounts of minors with misrepresented age

A recent LocalCircles survey had found that 1 in 2 urban Indian parents say their children are addicted to social media, OTT and online gaming platforms which are making them aggressive, impatient and lethargic. To understand parents’ perspective on the problem of misrepresentation of age, the survey asked, “To identify whether the social media, gaming, OTT platform usage is by a child who has mis-stated his/her age in account creation, platforms will have to rely on content type consumed, uploaded, profile information, images etc. Do you approve of platforms using this information in determining age misrepresentation by the child?” Out of 22,518 who responded to the question 58% stated “yes”; 25% of respondents stated “no”; 9% of respondents did not give a clear answer and 8% of respondents stated the question is “not applicable (do not have a child or grandchild in our family under the age of 18 and hence no opinion). To sum up, 58% of parents surveyed approve of the usage of profile information, user content consumption patterns, friends list, etc. by platforms to proactively identify accounts of minors with misrepresented age. Through artificial intelligence, it would be relatively easy for platforms to identify such accounts, according to some parents. Many believe that they could even look at age and activity, friends list etc. and classify accounts as RED, ORANGE and GREEN with the RED ones needing urgent enforcement action.

In summary, 88% of parents surveyed are in favour of DPDP rules mandating that platforms (social media, OTT, online gaming, etc.) identify any minor accounts with age misrepresented and proactively either seek parental consent or shut such accounts. To facilitate this, 58% of parents surveyed approve of the usage of profile information, user content consumption patterns, friends list, etc., by platforms to proactively identify accounts of minors with misrepresented age. Checking out the friends list and activities of children can be an indicator of the misrepresentation of age and according to some parents, the platforms must deploy artificial intelligence capabilities and identify non-compliant accounts for further action. The big question according to parents is that of intent of platforms and that is where the Government must step in with its DPDP rules and ensure that it happens.

Survey Demographics

The survey received over 44,000 responses from parents of school children located in over 349 districts of the country. 61% respondents were men while 39% respondents were women. 44% respondents were from tier 1, 27% from tier 2 and 29% respondents were from tier 3 and 4 districts. The survey was conducted via LocalCircles platform, and all participants were validated citizens who had to be registered with LocalCircles to participate in this survey.