Vaishnaw also said at a global conference on artificial intelligence in New Delhi that stricter regulations are needed on deepfakes, while hailing an expected $200 billion in AI investments over the next two years.
Since December, Australia has required TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat and a host of other popular social media services to delete accounts belonging to under-16s or face heavy fines.
Last month, French lawmakers approved a bill that would ban the use of social media for young people under the age of 15. The bill awaits a vote in the Senate before becoming law.
“This is something that has now been accepted by many countries that there should be age-based regulations,” Vaishnaw told reporters at the AI Impact Summit.
“Right now we are in discussions about deepfakes, about age-related restrictions with the different social media platforms and… what is the right way to go about this,” he said.
A state minister in Andhra Pradesh, India, had previously said it was paving the way for a ban on children’s use of social media, but Vaishnaw’s comments are the first indication of national action from the world’s most populous country.
India last week tightened rules regulating artificial intelligence technology, requiring social media platforms to clearly label AI content and comply with takedown requests from authorities within three hours.
“We need much stricter regulations on deepfakes,” Vaishnaw said on Tuesday.
“It’s a problem that’s growing every day. And there is certainly a need to protect our children and protect our society from this harm.”
The five-day AI Impact Summit kicked off on Monday, with nearly two dozen world leaders and dozens of ministerial delegations set to discuss major issues from job disruption to AI’s impact on the environment.
Organizers are highlighting this year’s AI summit, the fourth in an annual series of international meetings focused on the rapidly evolving technology, as the first to be hosted by a developing country.
Vaishnaw said on Tuesday that India expects more than $200 billion in investments over the next two years, of which roughly $90 billion has already been committed.
In addition, India’s Adani Group said on Tuesday it plans to invest $100 billion in developing “hyperscale AI-ready data centers” by 2035, boosting New Delhi’s bid to become a global AI hub.
The investment would catalyze an additional $150 billion in spending on “server manufacturing, advanced electrical infrastructure, sovereign cloud platforms and supporting industries,” the report said.
Last year, India rose to third place, overtaking South Korea and Japan, in an annual global ranking of AI competitiveness calculated by researchers at Stanford University.
But despite plans for large-scale infrastructure and big ambitions for innovation, experts say the country still has a long way to go before it can rival the United States and China.
As part of efforts to expand computing capacity, Vaishnaw said the government has already deployed 13,000 graphics processing units (GPUs) under its joint computing program and will place orders for another 20,000 GPUs within a week, which are expected to be installed within six months.
The expansion, he said, was part of a “continued effort to provide high-quality resources to our startups, researchers and students.”
Also attending the summit are technology CEOs including OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Google’s Sundar Pichai, as well as Microsoft tycoon Bill Gates.
Indian media had reported that Gates’ appearance had been canceled due to his mention in the Epstein files, but a Gates Foundation spokesperson told AFP that he attended and “will deliver his keynote as planned.”
Vaishnaw declined to comment on Nvidia boss Jensen Huang’s withdrawal from the top.
Published – Feb 18, 2026 09:06 AM IST
#India #discussing #age #restrictions #social #media #platforms