India is in talks with social media firms about age-based restrictions and stronger deepfake rules, as the nation eyes over $200 billion in AI investment.

NEW DELHI: India is discussing age-based restrictions with social media companies, Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said.

Speaking at the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, Vaishnaw also called for stronger regulation of deepfakes.

“This is something which has now been accepted by many countries that age-based regulation has to be there,” Vaishnaw told reporters.

He confirmed the government is in conversation with platforms regarding deepfakes and age-based restrictions.

The remarks signal potential national action in the world’s most populous country.

A state minister in Andhra Pradesh had earlier indicated preparations for a ban on children using social media.

India recently tightened rules on artificial intelligence technology.

The new rules require social media platforms to clearly label AI-generated content.

They must also comply with official takedown requests within three hours.

“We need much stronger regulation on deepfakes,” Vaishnaw said.

“It’s a problem which is growing day by day. And certainly there is a need for protecting our children, protecting our society from these harms.”

The minister’s comments follow moves by other nations.

Australia now requires TikTok, YouTube, and Snapchat to remove accounts held by under-16s.

French lawmakers last month passed a bill to ban social media use for under-15s.

The AI Impact Summit, which began on Monday, has drawn nearly 20 world leaders.

Vaishnaw said India expects over $200 billion in AI investments over the next two years.

This includes roughly $90 billion already committed.

Separately, the Adani Group announced plans to invest $100 billion by 2035.

The investment aims to develop hyperscale AI-ready data centres.

It is expected to catalyse an additional $150 billion in related spending.

India recently leapt to third place in a global AI competitiveness ranking.

The government has deployed 13,000 graphics processing units under a common compute programme.

Orders for another 20,000 GPUs will be placed within a week.

The expansion is part of an effort to provide high-quality resources to startups and researchers.

The summit features tech leaders including Sam Altman and Sundar Pichai.

Microsoft’s Bill Gates is also attending and will deliver his keynote as scheduled.

 The Sun Malaysia