India backs BRICS child safety pledge, but its age-verification rule has gone 5 years without a standard
India and other BRICS nations committed to ensuring a safe digital environment for children. However, the country's age-verification rule has been in effect for five years without defined standards.
India, alongside other BRICS nations, committed to "ensuring a safe digital environment for children" in a declaration adopted in New Delhi on September 13, 2026. The one-sentence pledge, however, lacks specific legal frameworks, regulatory bodies, or timelines for implementing effective age verification.
This commitment contrasts with recent actions by India's judiciary. Three days prior to the declaration, the Supreme Court of India issued a notice to the government regarding a petition concerning children's safety on digital platforms. The petition seeks functional age-verification systems and verified parental accounts for children's access, details absent from the BRICS declaration.
India's existing regulations, such as the Code of Ethics under the IT Rules, 2021, mandate a reliable age-verification mechanism for accessing adult content on streaming services. Despite these rules being in place for five years, no published standards define what constitutes a "reliable" mechanism. Other nations, like Brazil, have implemented clearer requirements for age verification.
While the BRICS declaration's mention of "user-centric protection" could imply obligations, its definition and responsibilities remain unspecified. The impetus for stronger online child protection appears to be originating from courtrooms rather than international communiqués, as the ongoing Supreme Court case actively seeks to address deficiencies in platform safety practices.