TASI Editions

TASI 2026Trust and Safety India Festival

Name: Trust and Safety India Festival
Start: 2026-10-14
End: 2026-10-15
Location: India International Centre

The second edition brought government, platforms, researchers, civil society and young people together in New Delhi under the theme People First. Safety Always.

14-15 October 2026India International Centre, New Delhi500+ Participants

Watch the Highlights Explore the Programme

Festival Highlights

A Minute of TASI 2026

The people, conversations and connections behind two days of trust and safety in New Delhi, on 14-15 October 2026.

Scenes from the festival, with remarks by Jitin Prasada on human-centred technology and shared responsibility. English captions are available in the player.

More than 500 delegates and 110 speakers filled the Main Hall, the Workshop Room and the Roundtable Room across 55 sessions. The film moves from the opening reception at the Goethe-Institut, through panels on children, age assurance and women's safety, to the report launch and the closing evening at the Netherlands Residence.

Watch it for the faces and the conversations. The full panel-by-panel coverage will follow on the TASI blog.

TASI 2026 Highlights

Relive Two Days of TASI 2026 in New Delhi

Opening Reception · 13 October

An Evening at the Goethe‑Institut

TASI 2026 began on the evening of 13 October at the Goethe-Institut in New Delhi, hosted with the embassies of Germany and France. Dr. Ranjana Kumari welcomed guests, and the hosting embassies opened the evening with remarks.

Jyoti Vadehra then introduced the Safety Spotlight, a run of short talks that set out the festival’s themes before guests moved on to an informal reception.

The Safety Spotlight

Children’s capacity to navigate information, with Rahul Fernandes and Prof. Nandini Chatterjee Singh
Journalist safety, with Kunal Majumder of the Committee to Protect Journalists
Youth participation in online safety, with Lucy Thomas of PROJECT ROCKIT
Rescue, rehabilitation and repatriation, with Triveni Acharya of Rescue Foundation
Lantern and shared signals, with Lisa Morrison of the Tech Coalition

A speaker addressing guests at the TASI 2026 opening reception at the Goethe-Institut

Day One · 14 October

The Festival Opens in the Main Hall

Day one opened at the India International Centre with a welcome from Jyoti Vadehra and Caroline Humer, a keynote from Snigdha Bhardwaj of Google on what safety means for children growing up with AI, and the inaugural address from Chief Guest Jitin Prasada.

The opening panel, moderated by Faye D’Souza, asked what is reshaping trust and safety in 2026. Panels on young people, age assurance and women’s safety followed in the Main Hall, while workshops and roundtables ran in the smaller rooms.

Highlights

Inaugural address by Jitin Prasada, Minister of State for Commerce & Industry and Electronics & IT
Opening panel: Forces Reshaping Trust & Safety in 2026
Growing Up Digital, moderated by Barkha Dutt
Age assurance and age-appropriate design
A fireside chat with Yoel Roth of Match Group

Jyoti Vadehra giving the welcome address in the Main Hall on day one

Day Two · 15 October

From Journalism to Regulation

Day two began with a keynote from Marisa Gerards, Ambassador of the Netherlands, on journalism, democracy and trust in the age of AI, followed by a panel on trust, safety and equity in a changing information ecosystem.

The day moved through creators and AI, trafficking and exploitation, and open-source AI. It closed in on regulation with the launch of The Quantum Hub’s report, Designing for Online Safety.

Highlights

Keynote on journalism, democracy and trust in the age of AI
Reach, Revenue & Responsibility: what AI changes for India’s creators
Combatting trafficking: building stronger partnerships
Report launch: Designing for Online Safety, by The Quantum Hub
Workshops and roundtables in the Workshop and Roundtable Rooms

Speakers on stage holding The Quantum Hub report at its launch on day two

Closing Ceremony · 15 October

Safety at a Crossroads

The festival closed in the Main Hall with a plenary on how to rethink safety, responsibility and human wellbeing, with Rob Lewington of TP, Amlan Mohanty of Anthropic and Rajesh Ranjan of Google, moderated by Sayoni Aiyar.

Guests then gathered at the Residence of the Ambassador of the Netherlands for the closing reception, welcomed by Ambassador Marisa Gerards, with calls to carry the festival’s recommendations to policymakers.

Carried forward

Platform child safety reports, called for before the next TASI
An on-site child safety hackathon, proposed for TASI 2027
A draft South Asian framework for child online safety
NCPCR child-safety guidelines, open for public comment

Guests listening at the closing reception at the Netherlands Residence

Jitin Prasada addressing the TASI 2026 inaugural session

Chief Guest

The Minister of State Opened the Festival

Jitin Prasada, Minister of State for Commerce & Industry and Electronics & IT, Government of India

Jitin Prasada said India's AI Mission targets for 2026 were met but are already obsolete, and that India is now exploring regulation that protects women and children. He asked for the festival's ideas to reach government.

Key Message

"All these cyber securities, laws, regulations mean nothing. They'll be all on paper if the industry doesn't step forward and if you don't take responsibility, it means nothing."

Jitin Prasada, inaugural address, 14 October

Read his profile

New at the Festival

Introduced at TASI 2026

Reports, resources and initiatives shared or announced during the festival.

The Quantum Hub

Designing for Online Safety

A report on reimagining India's digital service regulation. It proposes classifying services by function and adding a duty of care, while keeping safe harbour.

NCPCR

AI Tool to Detect CSAM

The NCPCR announced plans for an AI tool to proactively detect child sexual abuse material for state police, alongside forthcoming child-safety guidelines for platforms.

Rahul Fernandes

Newslink

A 20-minute daily, screen-free classroom news practice that builds critical thinking and kindness. 94% of pilot students would recommend it.

Microsoft and Cyberlite

Behind the Chat

Free resources on AI companions, co-designed with 131 students in India and Singapore and available in eight languages.

Snap Inc.

My Digital Wellbeing Journal

A reflection journal for 13–18 year olds in five steps (Notice, Feel, Pause, Connect, Choose), distributed with the IT Ministry's cyber-security arm.

Saksham Senior with I4C, supported by Meta

Main Scam Mein Nahi Aaungi

A Cyber Awareness Month campaign for older Indians, with a sitcom-style series in which the senior catches the scam.

Recommendations

What the Room Recommended

Carried Forward

From the room to policymakers

Recommendations heard across sessions on 14 and 15 October, with calls for policymakers, platforms and civil society to turn ideas into practical change.

Priority 01

Regulate services by function and systemic risk, with a duty of care.

Priority 02

Move from taking down posts to detecting intent, and share signals across platforms.

Priority 03

Retire self-declared age; adopt checks that never become identity checks.

Priority 04

Shift the burden of safety from users, women and parents to systems.

Priority 05

Close the justice gap: faster FIRs, sensitised local police, a real response behind every helpline.

Priority 06

Build safety with young people, and pay them for their expertise.

Priority 07

Design for India's shared phones, many languages and uneven digital literacy.

Priority 08

Align South Asian principles so small markets are not left behind.

Voices from TASI

What Leaders Said

Messages from the ambassadors and diplomats who partnered with TASI 2026.

“Sweden welcomes the opportunity to partner with India through the Trust & Safety Festival. Using our mutual strengths, we can shape the future of digitalization and AI through innovation, building trust, and applying good ethics and human-centric design. We look forward to working together for an open, safe, secure and sustainable digital future for all.”
H.E. Petra Menander
Ambassador of Sweden to India

“Building safer and more trusted digital spaces requires technology to be developed with security, resilience and inclusion at its core. Lithuania’s experience as a digitally advanced and innovation-driven country demonstrates the importance of empowering women to participate fully in the digital economy and of strengthening international cooperation to ensure that digital transformation creates opportunities and trust for all.”
H.E. Diana Mickevičienė
Ambassador of Lithuania to India

“Technology knows no borders, and neither should our responsibility to make it safe. It takes international cooperation and a shared commitment from governments, industry and civil society to ensure that technological progress goes hand in hand with human rights, trust and responsibility.”
Georg Enzweiler
Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of Germany to India