BJP MP Baijayant Panda has proposed the SHIELD Bill, 2025, a Private Members’ Bill seeking stronger safeguards for children on social media and online gaming platforms.

According to the proposed legislation, children under 13 years of age could be prohibited from creating social media and online gaming accounts without verified parental consent.

The bill seeks to introduce measures including age verification, parental controls and restrictions on personalised advertising targeted at minors. It also aims to strengthen protections for children from potentially harmful online content.

The proposed legislation comes amid growing international debate over children's access to social media and concerns about online safety, privacy, addictive design and exposure to harmful content.

‘SHIELD’ Bill Seeks to Protect Kids Online, Proposes Fines for Non-Compliance

Children Under 13 May Be Barred From Social Media Without Parental Consent | SHIELD Bill 2025

The Indian government has been aggressively pushing the Digital India framework and forging ahead with the campaign to even the most remote part of the nation.&nbsp;

The government aims to improve online infrastructure across the nation and, with better internet connectivity, the government and other services will be made available efficiently.&nbsp;

But the spread of the internet comes with online security and cybercrimes, and in order to tackle such threats, there's a need to establish measures and regulations.&nbsp;

Hence, India is planning to enforce Digital India Act (currently a draft), which will seek to ensure that the internet in India is open, free from user harm and criminality. It will also look after establishing the institutional mechanism of accountability.&nbsp;

<h2>What is Digital India Act (DIA)?&nbsp;</h2>

DIA has been introduced to replace the Information Technology Act, which came into being in October 2000.&nbsp;

The government said that the Digital India Act, of 2023 is a future-ready legislation that aims to provide a strong legal framework to support India's tech goals.&nbsp;

A statement published by PIB read, "It constitutes a significant part of the Global Standard Cyber laws being formulated by the Narendra Modi Government for catalysing India's digital economy."&nbsp;

The statement also added that Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, the National Data Governance Framework policy, the recent amendments to the IT Rules, and CERT-In guidelines are important elements of this legal framework.&nbsp;

Today, the nation is the world's largest "digitally connected democracy" with 830 million internet users.&nbsp;

The government argues that the internet is mostly managed under the 23-year-old IT Act, which lacks provisions on user rights, trust, and safety, among other issues, and is ill-equipped to deal with emerging, sophisticated forms of cybercrime such as doxxing, cyberstalking, and online trolling, among others.

<h2>Technology has pros and cons&nbsp;</h2>

From the internet to mobile phones to artificial intelligence (AI), several waves in information technology have come with immense benefits for humankind. But there have been associated issues as well.&nbsp;

For example, many hail ChatGPT, and other tools like it, as the "next big thing". ChatGPT is an AI-powered language model, which is capable of generating human-like text based on context and past conversations. It is developed by OpenAI.&nbsp;

Its usage spread like a virus across the world, threatening jobs, and more. But the tool has also been condemned by experts. Recently, US regulators have asked OpenAI how it's addressing the potential for ChatGPT to generate false and misleading statements about real people.&nbsp;

AI-powered tech can help with efficiency and productivity gains, improved speed of business, and more, but there's also a need to establish control over the tech o keep it in check.&nbsp;

The Washington Post reported that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sent a letter to OpenAI this week requesting specific information about how the company addresses the potential risk for ChatGPT "to generate statements about real individuals that are false, misleading, disparaging, or harmful."&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

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The Indian government has been aggressively pushing the Digital India framework and forging ahead with the campaign to even the most remote part of the nation. The government aims to improve online infrastructure across the nation and, with better internet connectivity, the government and other services will be made available efficiently.

The Indian government has been aggressively pushing the Digital India framework and forging ahead with the campaign to even the most remote part of the nation. The government aims to improve online infrastructure across the nation and, with better internet connectivity, the government and other services will be made available efficiently. But the spread of the internet comes with online security and cybercrimes, and in order to tackle such threats, there's a need to establish measures and regulations. Hence, India is planning to enforce Digital India Act (currently a draft), which will seek to ensure that the internet in India is open, free from user harm and criminality. It will also look after establishing the institutional mechanism of accountability. What is Digital India Act (DIA)? DIA has been introduced to replace the Information Technology Act, which came into being in October 2000. The government said that the Digital India Act, of 2023 is a future-ready legislation that aims to provide a strong legal framework to support India's tech goals. A statement published by PIB read, "It constitutes a significant part of the Global Standard Cyber laws being formulated by the Narendra Modi Government for catalysing India's digital economy." The statement also added that Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, the National Data Governance Framework policy, the recent amendments to the IT Rules, and CERT-In guidelines are important elements of this legal framework. Today, the nation is the world's largest "digitally connected democracy" with 830 million internet users. The government argues that the internet is mostly managed under the 23-year-old IT Act, which lacks provisions on user rights, trust, and safety, among other issues, and is ill-equipped to deal with emerging, sophisticated forms of cybercrime such as doxxing, cyberstalking, and online trolling, among others. Technology has pros and cons From the internet to mobile phones to artificial intelligence (AI), several waves in information technology have come with immense benefits for humankind. But there have been associated issues as well. For example, many hail ChatGPT, and other tools like it, as the "next big thing". ChatGPT is an AI-powered language model, which is capable of generating human-like text based on context and past conversations. It is developed by OpenAI. Its usage spread like a virus across the world, threatening jobs, and more. But the tool has also been condemned by experts. Recently, US regulators have asked OpenAI how it's addressing the potential for ChatGPT to generate false and misleading statements about real people. AI-powered tech can help with efficiency and productivity gains, improved speed of business, and more, but there's also a need to establish control over the tech o keep it in check. The Washington Post reported that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sent a letter to OpenAI this week requesting specific information about how the company addresses the potential risk for ChatGPT "to generate statements about real individuals that are false, misleading, disparaging, or harmful." (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

'Digital India Act': New Delhi's proposed plan to ensure online safety

The UK Online Safety Bill is making its way through the British Parliament. The bill has already passed its third reading in the House of Commons and now is being debated by the House of Lords. Dubbed as UK's 'masterplan', the bill was initially meant to create&nbsp;one of the toughest regimes for social media and other online platforms. Online Safety Bill has expectedly found opposition from social media platforms. The bill is currently in the committee stage in the House of Lords.

Whatsapp, the popular messaging platform owned by Meta, has been one of the most vocal opponents of the bill.

Last month, WhatsApp and some other platforms wrote an open letter calling for an "urgent rethink" of the legislation.

UK-based signatory, Element, warned it could leave the country if the law is passed.&nbsp;

"The UK government is currently considering new legislation that opens the door to trying to force technology companies to break end-to-end encryption on private messaging services," WhatsApp said in an open letter on its blog page dated April 17.

The letter was signed by WhatsApp head Will Cathcart and top bosses of other messaging services like Signal and Wire.

"We don't think any company, government or person should have the power to read your personal messages and we'll continue to defend encryption technology," said the letter.

<h2>What is the bill about? What effect will it have?</h2>

Critics of the legislation say that it may pave the way to empower the UK government to force tech companies to break end-to-end encryption.

The proposals in the bill were watered down in November last year. A requirement to stop "legal but harmful content" was removed to protect free speech. The focus was then put on illegal content, especially related to child safety.

The British government has said that the bill in "no way represented a ban on end-to-end encryption, nor would it require services to weaken encryption".

But it wants regulator Ofcom to be able to make platforms use accredited technology or try to develop new technology, to identify child sexual abuse content.

WhatsApp had already said it would refuse to comply with the Bill at the risk of even being blocked in the country, which has triggered speculation that it could exit the UK market.

(With inputs from agencies)

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The UK Online Safety Bill is making its way through the British Parliament. The bill has already passed its third reading in the House of Commons and now is being debated by the House of Lords.

The UK Online Safety Bill is making its way through the British Parliament. The bill has already passed its third reading in the House of Commons and now is being debated by the House of Lords. Dubbed as UK's 'masterplan', the bill was initially meant to create one of the toughest regimes for social media and other online platforms. Online Safety Bill has expectedly found opposition from social media platforms. The bill is currently in the committee stage in the House of Lords. Whatsapp, the popular messaging platform owned by Meta, has been one of the most vocal opponents of the bill. Last month, WhatsApp and some other platforms wrote an open letter calling for an "urgent rethink" of the legislation. UK-based signatory, Element, warned it could leave the country if the law is passed. "The UK government is currently considering new legislation that opens the door to trying to force technology companies to break end-to-end encryption on private messaging services," WhatsApp said in an open letter on its blog page dated April 17. The letter was signed by WhatsApp head Will Cathcart and top bosses of other messaging services like Signal and Wire. "We don't think any company, government or person should have the power to read your personal messages and we'll continue to defend encryption technology," said the letter. What is the bill about? What effect will it have? Critics of the legislation say that it may pave the way to empower the UK government to force tech companies to break end-to-end encryption. The proposals in the bill were watered down in November last year. A requirement to stop "legal but harmful content" was removed to protect free speech. The focus was then put on illegal content, especially related to child safety. The British government has said that the bill in "no way represented a ban on end-to-end encryption, nor would it require services to weaken encryption". But it wants regulator Ofcom to be able to make platforms use accredited technology or try to develop new technology, to identify child sexual abuse content. WhatsApp had already said it would refuse to comply with the Bill at the risk of even being blocked in the country, which has triggered speculation that it could exit the UK market. (With inputs from agencies) You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here. WATCH WION LIVE HERE ×

UK: House of Lords mulls over Online Safety Bill amid opposition from tech platforms