Join us as we discuss Age Verification and Restricting Social Media for Children in depth with industry professionals and experts in Bengaluru. Among other things, we’ll discuss possible alternative solutions to blanket bans on social media for children, privacy-friendly verification methods, and ways to introduce proportionality to data collection.

Application will close at 4 PM on May 14. Apply using this link if you haven’t already. 

• Date: Friday, 15 May 2026
• Time: 12:30 PM to 4:30 PM
• Venue: Hotel Royal Orchid, Domlur, Bengaluru. [Google Maps Link]

Updated Agenda:

• 12:30 – 1:30 PM: Lunch and networking
• 1:30 – 4:30 PM: Roundtable discussion

Note: This is an invite-only discussion, under the Chatham House Rule. Participation will be subject to approval.

We had published a reading list, to help you prepare for the discussion. 

Our list of confirmed speakers for tomorrow’s discussion include: 

• Ajay Kumar, Partner, Triumvir Law
• Sushma Gopalan, Lead Consultant Child Life Services – Psychologist, Manipal Hospitals
• Saurabh Shashi Ashok, Resource Person for Health – Policy and Law, Initiative for Child Protection and Mental Health, Azim Premji Foundation
• Harshitha Thammaiah, Senior Director and General Counsel, Xiaomi
• Abhinav Parashar, Co-founder and CEO, Digio
• Rishi Mazumdar, Educational Technology Architect, QUEST Alliance
• Arun S Prabhu, Partner, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas
• Uthara Ganesh, APAC Head of Public Policy, Snap
• Sandesh GS, CTO, Bureau
• Dr Preeti Galagali, Director, Bengaluru Adolescent Care and Counselling Centre
• Nivedita Krishna, Founder, Pacta
• D Shashi Kumar, General Secretary, KAMS
• Puja Deshpande, Head Privacy Implementation – Privy, IDfy
• Shubhika H. Goel, Associate Director – Policy Advocacy and Communications, Broadband India Forum
• Gurumurthy Kasinathan, Co-founder, IT For Change
• Lokesh Talikatte, Chairperson at Sandeepani Group of Schools
• Nirmal Bhansali, Associate at Ikigai Law

The roundtable session will feature the following key discussion points and more: 

• Understanding the concerns leading to restricting access to the internet and devices for children and its challenges.
• International regulatory approaches and their implications, including learnings from Australia and Indonesia and the Age Appropriate Design Code
• Who decides what content/platforms are “harmful”? What’s the evidence threshold? 
• Technical and practical issues with age verification mechanisms
• Feasibility of implementing bans across state boundaries.
• Data collection and alignment of proposed plans with the DPDP Act
• Understanding implementation for households with shared devices
• Jurisdiction and implementation issues in Centre vs State regulations

We have confirmed participants from: Meta, LinkedIn, Flipkart, ShareChat (Mohalla Tech), Tata Trusts, Britannia Industries, Mindtree, Nagarro, Junglee Games, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas, Nishith Desai Associates, JSA, Saikrishna & Associates, Dentons Link Legal, TT&A, Spice Route Legal, LawNK Partners, Kintsugi Law, HB Law Offices, Tapas Law, PMB Legal, Takshashila Institution, The Asia Group, Aapti Institute, The Pranava Institute, DataLEADS, Child Rights Trust, Organization for Research and Education on Social Policy, Nation First Policy Research and Change Foundation, Vcraft Technologies (Zoho Partner), AEITY Systems, AI Tech Ethics, along with several independent people. 

This is an invite-only event with limited seats, so please apply to attend.

Important

• Registration does not guarantee attendance. If you fit our intended audience profile, we’ll send you a confirmation before the event.
• Your contact information will not be shared outside of MediaNama

Note: This discussion is being organised with support from Meta and Snap. Our community partners for this event are Pacta, Design Beku and The Pranava Institute.