The debate over how to keep the internet safe just got its biggest Indian stage yet. The second edition of the Trust and Safety India Festival (TASI 2026) opened in New Delhi today, October 14, bringing together a rare mix of AI engineers, digital rights advocates, regulators, tech policy experts and platform safety teams for two days of hard conversations about who protects users online, and how.
The festival runs on October 14 and 15 in a hybrid format, with sessions both in person in the national capital and streamed online. Its theme this year says a lot about the mood of the industry: “People First. Safety Always.”
Who is behind TASI 2026
TASI 2026 is convened by the Centre for Social Research and Trust and Safety Festival, and it has grown fast. Last year’s edition pulled in more than 500 participants from 15 countries for over 30 sessions spanning AI governance, child safety, policy and digital wellbeing. This year, speaker profiles from 20 countries have been confirmed, making it one of the largest dedicated trust and safety gatherings anywhere in the Global South.
The festival describes itself as India’s foremost convening on trust, safety and AI governance. For companies building or deploying technology products, that label matters: trust and safety has quietly become one of the most consequential functions inside any platform, deciding everything from how deepfakes get flagged to how children are protected on an app.
AI governance takes centre stage
The sharpest discussions over the next two days are expected around AI governance. As generative AI tools get baked into everyday products, businesses, platforms and users are all grappling with the same set of questions: who is accountable when an AI system produces harmful output, how sensitive data is handled, and where transparency is owed to the user.
For technology companies and startups, the festival is a chance to compare notes on practical answers rather than abstract principles. Clear internal policies on who reviews AI-generated decisions, when human intervention is mandatory, and how deceptive content is detected can save companies from operational blowups and reputational damage later. Smaller firms, in particular, are being urged to set these practices early, before their products scale and the stakes multiply.
Child safety gets a South Asia focus
Child online safety is a headline theme, and one session stands out. On October 15, the International Foundation for Digital Child is hosting a roundtable titled “Can South Asia Build a Shared Framework for Child Online Safety?” The discussion will bring in perspectives from countries across the region and tackle emerging threats to children in digital spaces, from harmful content and privacy risks to manipulative design choices.
The framing is deliberate. Balancing children’s access to digital services with age-appropriate safeguards is a problem no single country or company can solve alone. The roundtable is expected to push for deeper cooperation between governments, civil society, educators, parents and technology platforms, and to explore whether South Asia can develop a shared regional approach.
Why this conversation is urgent right now
The timing of TASI 2026 is hard to miss. AI-generated content is getting harder to tell apart from the real thing, online scams are growing more sophisticated, and misinformation now spreads at the speed of a forwarding button. India’s digital user base is one of the largest in the world, which means every trust and safety decision here affects hundreds of millions of people.
- AI governance: accountability, data handling, transparency and the management of harmful outputs as AI tools enter products and business operations.
- Deceptive content: how platforms detect deepfakes, scams and fraud, and the role of human review alongside automated systems.
- Child protection: age-appropriate safeguards, digital wellbeing and a possible shared South Asian framework.
- Digital wellbeing: how online services affect younger users and what responsible design looks like.
What emerges from the festival will matter beyond the auditorium. Any frameworks, policy recommendations or industry commitments announced during the event are likely to feed into the wider global conversation on digital governance, ethics and AI safety.
AI in the power sector gets its own conclave
In a sign of how central AI has become to public policy, a separate two-day Brainstorming Conclave on Making the Indian Power Sector AI Enabled is also being held on October 14 and 15 at the Manekshaw Centre in New Delhi, organised by the Central Electricity Authority. Union Ministers, senior government officials, industry leaders, technology experts and researchers are expected to discuss how artificial intelligence can reshape the power sector, from grid management to demand forecasting.
FAQs
What is the Trust and Safety India Festival 2026?
It is the second edition of India’s leading summit on trust, safety and AI governance, held on October 14 and 15, 2026 in New Delhi. It brings together leaders from AI, digital rights, regulation, tech policy and platform safety.
Who is organising TASI 2026?
The festival is convened by the Centre for Social Research and Trust and Safety Festival, in both in-person and online formats. Speaker profiles from 20 countries have been confirmed this year.
What topics are being discussed?
AI governance, detection of deceptive content and scams, child online safety, digital wellbeing, gender equity and inclusion, and practical collaboration between technology companies and policymakers.
Is the festival only for big tech companies?
No. The discussions are aimed at startups, smaller firms, civil society organisations, educators, policymakers and anyone building or studying digital products, not just large platforms.
Why does this matter for ordinary internet users?
The rules, tools and norms debated at the festival directly shape how safe your apps and feeds are: how scams get caught, how deepfakes get flagged and how children are protected online.
Two days, twenty countries and one stubborn question: can the internet be made safer without slowing it down? Delhi is where the industry is trying to find out, and the answers that emerge this week could shape digital policy well beyond India’s borders.
