Opinion: What New Zealand Can Learn from India’s Online Safety Strategies

Brent: "The hum of New Delhi is more than the sum of its streets and monuments—it’s a living network of ideas."

The hum of New Delhi is more than the sum of its streets and monuments—it’s a living network of ideas. When I stepped into the city, I carried something most travellers leave behind: the intention to listen more than to speak.

As CEO of Netsafe New Zealand, my world often revolves around code, policy and crisis. But this journey, made possible by the Asia New Zealand Foundation, was about rediscovering a basic truth: online safety begins offline, through trust built one conversation at a time.

This visit came at a decisive moment. India is not just participating in the digital revolution; it’s powering it.

With AI reshaping governance, education, and everyday life, the question isn’t how fast technology can move, it’s how societies can keep people safe as it does. I came hoping to explore that balance, to understand how India’s trust and safety community weaves resilience into progress.

My colleague Meg attended the inaugural Trust and Safety Festival 2025. A pre‑summit to next year’s Global AI Summit.

Held in New Delhi, it brought local advocates, technologists, and international organisations together in the same room, exchanging ideas with unusual candour. Closed‑door sessions on child protection revealed the depth of India’s commitment to safe digital futures.

What struck both of us was the spirit of collaboration. Big‑tech leaders, grassroots campaigners, and policymakers working as equals. It was a reminder that progress accelerates where partnership thrives.

Brent (right) meeting with New Zealand's deputy head of mission, Matthew Ayres

In my first few meetings with Delhi’s digital leaders, one truth surfaced repeatedly: no technology, no matter how advanced, endures without human trust. “What keeps a digital space safe isn’t just code or compliance—it’s connection.”

India’s approach reflects that belief. Across New Delhi, Mumbai, and Goa, the focus on relationship‑building between government, civil society, and the private sector stood out.

While New Zealand talks about “whole‑of‑system responses,” India embodies it with people at the centre.

I was particularly inspired by the way advocates used multilingual tools to reach survivors of online harm in their own languages—transforming empathy from sentiment into structure.

One discussion still lingers. At sunrise, I met a group of female tech and gender‑safety advocates. They spoke openly about cyberbullying, doxxing (revealing someone's private information online), and misinformation—topics heavy with consequence, yet their tone was resolute, not grim. They saw each risk as a challenge to outsmart, not a wall to scale. Their courage mirrored what drew me to this field years ago: the belief that digital safety is, at its core, a human‑rights issue.

Later, Meg shared stories of neighbourhood‑run safety programmes—like parents teaching online etiquette in WhatsApp groups or volunteers designing hyper‑local reporting tools. Those small acts felt monumental because they proved that meaningful change rarely begins with grand strategies—it starts with everyday courage.

Brent meeting with Social Media Matters, Netsafe and representatives from Sinha Partners Legal Firm in New Delhi

Right now, the internet-safety challenge is less about “bad posts” and more about AI-amplified harm at scale. Think hyper-real deepfakes and AI “fake nudes”, sextortion, and increasingly sophisticated scams that use impersonation (voice/video), stolen data, and social engineering alongside a steady drumbeat of harassment and manipulation that’s starting to erode trust and social cohesion.

In New Zealand, we’re seeing record demand for help and clear signals that the Harmful Digital Communications Act was written for an earlier online era, so the response needs to combine faster platform action, stronger prevention and victim support, and urgent law modernisation (with Netsafe resolving most cases without court, but pressure rising as harms evolve). 

In India, the same trend shows up in the volume and velocity of cyber-enabled fraud and synthetic media.

Government agencies are promoting public guidance and cyber hygiene (including CERT-In advisories on deepfakes), scaling reporting and rapid response through the national 1930 cybercrime helpline / I4C, and taking ecosystem measures to disrupt fraud infrastructure (like blocking SIMs/IMEIs linked to scams), alongside the longer-term push to strengthen privacy and accountability through the Digital Personal Data Protection Act and related rules.

India will also host the AI Impact Summit in 2026, which is a chance for the world to talk about AI online safety risks among other emerging AI benefits and harms. The work Netsafe has done with the AI Asia Pacific Institute is relevant to many jurisdictions in the region.  

Brent withSocial and Media Matters CEO Pratishtha Arora

This journey didn’t just yield material for reports; it reshaped how we lead. India reaffirmed that humility, curiosity, and patience are leadership tools.

Back home, we’ve already begun adapting lessons from these dialogues into Netsafe’s education and advocacy work. Rather than “importing” models, we’re testing, localising, and letting communities shape what endures.

The impact extends beyond our organisation. Partnerships formed in New Delhi are paving pathways for shared initiatives across Asia‑Pacific, linking safety advocates through shared purpose. Beyond the meetings and policy notes, what endures are the friendships—the reminder that building digital trust begins with human trust.

What started as an exchange trip became something deeper: a compass for cooperation in an age of uncertainty. India’s pulse still echoes in our work—a rhythm of innovation, empathy, and determination to keep the digital world open, safe, and human.

The Foundation's Research Programme publishes surveys, reports, and insights briefs relating to all aspects of New Zealand’s relationships with and interests in Asia. We also provide grants to emerging scholars with Asia-related research interests. 

The Foundation’s Research Grants support talented postgraduate students and emerging scholars to conduct research into contemporary issues in the Asia region.