The inaugural TASI Festival, a Pre-Summit Event of the IndiaAI Impact Summit 2026, brings together leaders from government, industry, civil society, and academia to shape the future of trust and safety in the digital age. Key themes include AI and ethics, child safety, gender-based online violence, scams and fraud, and responsible innovation.

Monday October 6, 2025 

Opening reception 

(by invitation only) 

Tuesday October 7, 2025

Day 1

08:00 - Registration / Tea Coffee

09:00 - Room 1 - Opening remarks

         Jyoti Vadehra, Head, Online Safety and Wellbeing, Centre for Social Research (CSR India)

         Caroline Humer, Co Founder, Trust & Safety Festival

 09:10 Video message : Combatting Technology-Facilitated Gender Based Violence, a collective responsibility

        Delphine O, Ambassador-at-large, France, and Secretary General for the Generation Equality Forum (Beijing+25)

09:15 - Room 1 - Panel: From Paris to Delhi: Shaping Global AI Governance and Ethical Innovation

• In the wake of the AI Summit in Paris, this high-level conversation will reflect on the key insights and global commitments emerging from that dialogue — and how they inform the road to Delhi in February. The panel will explore the evolving landscape of ethical AI innovation, focusing on responsible development, inclusive design, and effective governance. How can emerging technologies be aligned with democratic values, online safety, and cross-border policy frameworks? What roles do global tech companies, AI startups, and policymakers play in shaping the global AI ecosystem — and what lessons must be carried forward as India prepares to host the next chapter?

         Abhishek Singh, Additional Secretary, MeitY, Govt. of India

         Sunil Abraham, Public Policy Dorector, Data Econoomy and Emerging Tech, Meta  

        Nandita Baruah, Country Representative - India, The Asia Foundation

        Rajesh Ranjan, Head of Core Government Affairs and Public Policy, Google India

        Rohit Kumar, Co-Founder, The Quantum Hub - Moderator

10:00 - Room 1 -  Welcome remarks

        Dr. Ranjana Kumari, Director, Centre for Social Research (CSR India)

10:10 - Room 1 -  Keynote Speech

         Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs, Government of India

10:20 - Room 1 -  Keynote Speech

        Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister for Railways; Information & Broadcasting; Electronics & Information Technology, 

         Government of India

09:00 - Room 2 - Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Online – A Global Perspective

• Child sexual abuse online is a borderless problem, yet responses remain fragmented by differing laws, definitions, and coordination gaps. This session brings together INHOPE, Childlight, and RATI Foundation to share their frontline work and global insights. INHOPE will spotlight how its worldwide hotline network is addressing gaps through common classification tools, law enforcement collaboration, and analysis of global policy trends. Childlight will release new findings from the Global Index on CSEA Online and Offline, offering a data-driven picture of prevalence and response. RATI Foundation will share two years of insights from the Meri Trustline helpline, including trends, challenges, and survivor-centered approaches. Together, these perspectives provide a unique opportunity to learn from leading organizations shaping how the world understands, prevents, and responds to child sexual abuse in the digital age. 

        Abby Roberts, Project Manager, INHOPE

        Deborah Fry, Global Director of Data and Principal Investigator (PI), Childlight

        Siddharth P., Co-Founder & Director, RATI Foundation

10:30 - Coffee 

11:00 - Room 1 - Panel: AI for Safety

• This session moves from principles to practice, focusing on how AI intersects with online safety, harm detection, and trust and safety operations. Panelists will explore current and emerging risks — such as AI-generated child sexual abuse material, scams, deepfakes, and recommender harms — and examine mitigation strategies like red-teaming, safety evaluations, data governance, and transparency tooling. The discussion will also surface challenges in translating safety-by-design principles into product roadmaps, particularly in Global South contexts.

        Jordan Benavidez, Director of Safety by Design, Trust & Safety, Match Group

        Akash Pugalia, Global Executive, TP

        Henry Adams, Director, T&S at Resolver

        Ajit Kumar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Information Technology, Government of India

        Snigdha Bhardwaj, Director and Global Head of Generative AI, Trust & Safety, Google

        Jc Le Toquin, Co Founder, Trust & Safety Festival - Moderator

11:45 - Room 1 - Spotlight: #CareNotControl Yuvaa and Snapchat

        Uthara Ganesh, Public Policy Head, India and South Asia, Snapchat

        Nikhil Taneja, Co-Founder/Chief, Yuvaa

12:00 - Room 1 - Panel: Protecting Children Online with Google, Meta and Snapchat

• Panelists will explore how platforms are building policies, tools, and AI-driven solutions to prevent serious harms to children — including emerging risks like AI-generated abuse. They will discuss how partnerships with local communities and youth voices are critical for shaping responsive, safety-first approaches.

        Uthara Ganesh, Head of Public Policy, India and South Asia, Snap Inc.

        Nikhil Taneja, Co-Founder/Chief, Yuvaa

        Shilpi Singh, Gurgaon Moms

        Natasha Jog, Director, Public Policy, Meta India

        Kazim Rizvi, Founding Director, The Dialogue - Moderator

12:45 - Room 1 - Spotlight: Improving Online Safety for Women and Children in India: An assessment of current 

                                  Indian legislative framework, global regulatory approaches, and potential pathways.

         Natasha Jog, Director, Public Policy, Meta India

           Sidharth Deb, Associate Director, The Quantum Hub

11:00 - Room 2 - Panel: Bodies, Bans & Algorithms by FRIDA

• This panel by FRIDA explores how censorship and platform algorithms shape access to Bodies, Bans & Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights content. It invites platform stakeholders, creators, educators and advocates to ask: Who gets to speak about bodies online? Who decides what’s safe? And how do we reclaim digital spaces as sites of consent, autonomy, empowerment and knowledge sovereignty?

        Sachee Malhotra, Co Founder, That Sassy Thing

        Zoya Ali, Reproductive Health Scientist and Sexuality Educator

        Vithika Yadav, Former Head, Love Matters India

        Aparajita Bharti, Co-Founder of The Quantum Hub and YLAC

        Uthara Ganesh, Head of Public Policy, India and South Asia, Snap Inc.

        Dr. Nilesh Deshpande, Program Specialist, Adolescent and Youth Unit, UNFPA 

        Prakshi Saha - Moderator

12:00 - Room 2 - Workshop: Designing Safer Pathways - GroSafe’s AI Chatbot for Child Protection

• This interactive workshop introduces GroSafe, an EU-funded initiative using gaming, knowledge management, and AI to protect children from online grooming. Participants will explore GroSafe’s in-development AI reporting chatbot, designed to make it easier for young people to seek help and report concerns. Through breakout discussions and hands-on testing, attendees will provide feedback on the chatbot’s design, usability, and implementation challenges. The session closes with opportunities to contribute to ongoing research and shape the future of safer digital reporting tools.

        Dylan Schouten, Project Manager, GroSafe

13:00 - Lunch 

14:00 - Room 1 - Spotlight: Tackling image-based abuse: Cross-platform collaboration in action 

                              with StopNCII.org 

        Sophie Mortimer, Manager, UK Revenge Porn Helpline SWGfL

14:15 - Room 1 - Spotlight: Panel: CTRL+SHIFT+RESPECT: Building Safer Digital Spaces for Girls 

• The panel will spotlight practical strategies to create a digital world where girls can participate, express, and thrive without fear. This panel will explore how dismantling harmful gender norms around technology, building girls’ digital skills and literacy, and fostering safe, gender-responsive online spaces requires an ecosystem approach, that of engaging girls, boys and parents alike. 

        Akansha Kasera, Senior Market Engagement Manager, the GSMA

        Shireen Vakil, Child Rights Advocate

        Japleen Pasricha, Founder, CEO and Editor-in-Chief, Feminism in India

        Sadhana Singh, Consultant, Niti Ayog

        Josephine van Zanten, Second Secretary Political Affairs & Human Rights, Netherlands Embassy

        Kavita Ayyigari, Country Director India, Girl Effect

15:00 - Room 1 - Spotlight: GSMA's Mobile Gender Gap research

        Akansha Kasera, Senior Market Engagement Manager, the GSMA

15:15 - Room 1 - Panel: Click to Protect - How Digital Platforms can disrupt Human Trafficking Networks 

                              with Booking.com

• While the fight against human trafficking requires mobilisation on the ground, digital platforms can play a meaningful supporting role. In this session, we’ll explore how platforms, working in partnership with industry experts and stakeholders, can contribute to disrupting human trafficking networks. In this session, we’ll explore how platforms, working in partnership with experts and stakeholders, can contribute to disrupting human trafficking networks.

        Neda Niazian, Group Director Trust & Safety - Booking.com

        Lena Dasgupta Basu, Programme Manager, Child Protection, Child in Need Institute (CINI)

        Nick Dale, Director of Intelligence, Stop The Traffik

         Amelia Wierda, Legal Counsel for Human Rights, Booking.com

        Hasina Kharbhih, Founder, Impulse NGO Network

16:00 - Room 1 - Spotlight: Google’s Approach to Tackling Fraud and Scams

        Norman Ng, Head, Trust & Safety Global Engagement, Google 

16:15 - Room 1 - Panel: Disconnecting the Scam with Truecaller

• This panel will explore how India can build a safer digital ecosystem for its citizens by strengthening intelligence-sharing between government, industry, and technology providers. Speakers will examine the complex, evolving nature of online fraud, the role of legislation such as the Digital Personal Data Protection Act in shaping accountability, and the need for collaborative, tailored solutions—rather than a one-size-fits-all approach—to advance trust and safety online.

        Seema Jindal, Head of Public Affairs, Truecaller

        P K Singh, Additional Secretary, TRAI

        Rajesh Kumar, CEO, I4C

        ACP Harmeet Randhawa, Delhi Police, CTF, Special Cell

        Vidushi Chaturvedi, Lead Architect, Frontier Tech Hub, Niti Ayog

        Yannick Ragonneau, Technical Expert, Expertise France

        Sumeysh Srivastava, Associate Director, The Quantum Hub

17:00 - Room 1 -  Spotlight: Strengthening AI Integrity: From Moderation to Mitigation with TP

        Deepesh Gupta, Senior Director, TP

17:15 - Room 1 -  Closing remarks

         Christopher Cooter, High Commissioner of Canada to India

13:30 - Room 2 - Workshop: Strategic Foresight: Future-Proofing Trust 

• This workshop engages diverse stakeholders to anticipate digital risks from rapid technological growth. Through exploring future scenarios for 2035, participants will assess implications for trust and safety and identify the infrastructure, regulations, and skills needed today to build anticipatory governance frameworks and global partnerships, positioning India as a leader in responsible technology development.

        Farshida Zafar LL.M., Executive Director, Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship; CEO, ROOM

15:00 - Room 2 - Panel: Decoding TFGBV: Building policy and governance solutions with UN Women

• Turning frontline lessons into systemic change requires laws, policies, and governance models that are both ambitious and grounded in reality. This panel convenes parliamentarians, civil society leaders, donors, and international experts to explore how the lived experiences of women facing online abuse can inform stronger protections. Panelists will examine how policy frameworks, platform accountability mechanisms, and multilateral cooperation can be shaped to address evolving forms of TFGBV while balancing rights to privacy and expression. The conversation will focus on bridging the gap between what survivors need and what systems currently deliver, charting a path for responsive and enforceable solutions.

        Gokul Narayan, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Asian School of Cyber Laws

        Shohini Banerjee, Knowledge Specialist, Point of View

        Kundan Mishra, Senior Program Officer, International Development Research Centre (IDRC)

        Vrinda Bhandari, Advocate, Supreme Court of India 

        Sophie Mortimer, Manager, UK Revenge Porn Helpline at SWGfL

        Kanta Singh, Country Representative, a.i. - UN Women India Country Office

16:30 - Room 2 - Workshop by Snapchat : Care, Not Control: An Intergenerational Dialogue on Teens’ Online Safety

17:15 - End of sessions

Evening reception 

(by invitation only) 

Day 2 - Wednesday October 8, 2025

08:00 - Registration / Tea Coffee

09:00 - Room 1 - Welcome back

         Jyoti Vadehra, Head, Online Safety and Wellbeing, Centre for Social Research (CSR India)

09:15 - Room 1 - Fireside Chat: Dating and Safety

• Online dating is now part of everyday life, but it also raises urgent questions about safety, trust and accountability. This candid conversation will explore how platforms, policymakers, and civil society can work together to make dating safer — from tackling harassment and scams to preventing exploitation and abuse. Drawing on global experience and India-specific realities, the discussion will unpack policy frameworks, platform interventions, and the cultural shifts needed to build respectful, trust-based online relationships.

        Yoel Roth, Senior Vice President, Head of Trust & Safety, Match  Group

         Dr. Ranjana Kumari, Director, Centre for Social Research (CSR India)

        Nilanjana Bhowmik, Journalist - Moderator

10:00 - Room 1 - Video Message : AI and Safety by Design 

• Australia's eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant

10:15 - Room 1 - Spotlight : Regulatory Sandbox with The Children's Online Redress Sandbox

        Ioanna Noula, Founder and Project Lead, COR Sandbox

10:30 - Room 1 - Panel: Designing for youth: Privacy, protection, and participation in the digital age

• As young people spend more of their lives online, the responsibility to create digital environments that promote wellbeing has never been greater. This panel will bring together leaders from age assurance providers, global industry, and independent experts to explore practical solutions for safer, more empowering online experiences for youth. Panelists will discuss how innovations in tech can work alongside safety-by-design principles to protect children’s rights without compromising their access to opportunity and expression. Drawing on perspectives from advocacy, research, and platform governance, the conversation will address the complex balance between privacy, protection, and participation—highlighting what it takes to build trust with young users and the adults who care for them. 

        Vaishnavi J, Founder, Vys

         Andras Molnar – Senior Digital Policy Manager and Director of Online Safety, TUM Think Tank

        Jeff Wu, Co - Founder and Chief Safety Officer, K-ID

         Mitthat Hora, Program Officer, British Asian Trust

        Jyoti Vadehra, Head, Online Safety and Wellbeing, CSR India

11:15 - Room 1 - Spotlight : AI companions for kids: Safety, suitability, and the slippery slope of                                                     attachment, with Vyanams Strategies (VYS)

• As AI companions become playmates and confidants for children, they raise urgent questions about safety, credibility, and the risks of over-attachment. This session explores how to evaluate and design these tools so they support, rather than manipulate, young users - drawing on Vys' age-appropriate AI framework, red-teaming of models for youth harms, and ongoing work on safeguards and remedies that make AI ecosystems more child-appropriate.

        Vaishnavi J, Founder, Vys

09:15 - Room 2 - India in Trust & Safety: Where Digital Harms Meet Global Solutions, with Everest Group

• India’s dual role in Trust & Safety is unmatched: a demanding market for solutions and a global hub for delivery. This session highlights factors driving T&S demand from India and contrasts Indian regulations against global regulations. It will also focus upon T&S delivery from India, including future-proofing strategies.

        Dhruv Khosla, Practice Director, Everest Group

11:15 - Room 2 - IGPP Children's Safety by Design: Policy, Practice and Future

• Children’s digital lives bring both comfort and risk, from cyberbullying and harmful content to gambling ads and gaming addiction. With India recording the world’s highest rate of child cyberbullying and limited research into issues like digital self-harm, this panel will explore India-specific challenges, regulatory gaps, and future-forward solutions to safeguard child safety while protecting digital rights, with attention to gendered experiences online.

        Dr. Rabindra Narayan Behera, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha and Member of Parliamentary Standing

        Committee on Communications and Information Technology

        N.S. Nappinai, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court and Founder, CyberSaathi

        Chitra Iyer,  CEO and Co-founder, Space2Grow

        Shantaram Jonnalagadda, Director, Yoti

        Heena Goswami, Institute for Governance, Policies & Politics (IGPP)

11:30 - Coffee

12:15 - Room 1 - Panel: Child Influencers in the Creator Economy

                              with Advertising Standards Council of India

• As children increasingly participate in the digital creator economy, often amassing large audiences and shaping consumer trends, urgent questions arise around their wellbeing, rights, and protections. This panel brings together experts, digital platforms, policy, and child rights advocacy to explore the emerging landscape of child influencers and examine the ethical and regulatory challenges of monetizing childhood on social media, including advertising disclosures, labor rights, consent, data protection, and the role of parents and guardians.

        Manisha Kapoor, CEO of Advertising Standards Council of India

        Kriti Trehan, Founder, Data & Co - Law & Policy Advisors

         Anupriya Kapur, Digital Influencer and Life Coach

         Tripti Gurha, Chairperson, NCPCR

         Anshul Tewari, Founder and CEO, Youth Ki Awaaz

        Barkha Dutt, Award-winning TV journalist, anchor and columnist - Moderator

13:00 - Room 1 - Keynote : From Protection to Empowerment: Reimagining Online Safety for Women and Young Users

         Smt. Annapurna Devi, Hon’ble Union Cabinet Minister of Women & Child Development, Government of India

12:15 - Room 2 - Workshop : Reimagining Safety: Youth, Tech, and Active Citizenship with Safetipin 

• This panel explores how young people are reshaping the meaning of safety—beyond top-down measures—through community-led audits, real-time alerts, advocacy, and peer networks. Drawing on examples where digital tools have mapped and improved public spaces, speakers will examine how tech for social good can amplify youth voices, foster active citizenship, and build safer, more inclusive environments—online and offline, especially for marginalized communities.

13:15 - Lunch 

14:00 - Room 1 - Fireside Chat : Advancing Women’s Voices in Public Life 

• Women leaders—whether activists, journalists, politicians, creators, or human rights defenders—are using the internet to inform, inspire, and mobilize communities like never before. Yet, their ability to participate fully and confidently online depends on supportive ecosystems that address the barriers they face. This fireside chat will focus on how technology, policy, and community engagement can work together to strengthen women’s digital participation. The conversation will spotlight successful models, cross-sector collaborations, and policy innovations that help women harness the full potential of the internet to lead, connect, and shape public discourse.

         Bansuri Swaraj, Member of Parliament, Government of India

         Jyoti Vadehra, Head, Online Safety and Wellbeing, Centre for Social Research (CSR India) - Moderator

14:30 - Room 1 - Panel: Responding to Technology Facilitated Gender-Based Violence – 

                              What’s working and what’s next

• Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV) manifests differently across geographies, but its impacts are strikingly similar—silencing women, deterring participation, and eroding trust online. This panel brings together practitioners from India, France, and the United States, spanning civil society, government, and the legal sector, who are directly confronting these harms. Panelists will highlight what’s working in different contexts, the constraints they face, and where collaboration across sectors and borders can make the biggest difference.

        Barsha Chakraborty, Feminist Practitioner

        Shanley Clemot McLaren, Feminist Activist and Global Expert on Gender Digital Rights, United Nations Young      

        Activist Laureate, Founder of #StopFisha

        Rakesh Maheshwari, Fmr Senior Director (Retd.), Ministry of Information Technology, Government of India

        Steven Biddle, Minister Counsellor, Department of Home Affairs, Australian High Commission

        Caroline Humer, Co Founder, Trust & Safety Festival

15:15 - Room 1 - Fireside Chat : Balancing Innovation & Safety: A Dialogue 

          S. Krishnan - Secretary, Ministry of Information Technology, Government of India

         Karuna Nain, Online Safety Expert/ Advisor, Centre for Social Research - Moderator

15:40 - Room 1 - Panel: Well-being for T&S Workers with Fortis

• Trust & Safety workers—moderators, policy experts, enforcement teams, and crisis responders—play a critical role in keeping online spaces safe, often under intense emotional, psychological, and ethical pressure. This panel will explore best practices in mental health support, trauma-informed workplace design, organizational responsibility, and the role of technology in reducing exposure to harmful content.

        Swati Chawla, Director of Global Operational Wellness, TP

        Uma Subramanian, Co-Founder & Director, RATI Foundation

        Ayush Verma, Senior Analyst, T&S, Resolver

        Dr. Samir Parikh, Director, Department of Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences, Fortis Mental Health

16:30 - Room 1 - Panel: Strong & Seen: How Women Are Leading Learning, Enterprise, and Solidarity Online

• This panel will examine what it means to be a woman in public digital spaces today. The conversation will centre on lived experience and concrete examples of how they are using these spaces to generate income, learn, tell stories, build communities, and lead conversations. Experts will share insights on practical measures across creator practices, civil society interventions, and policy perspectives that can expand digital opportunities and reduce risks for women.

        Iqra Choudhary, Member of Parliament, Kairana, Uttar Pradesh

        Laxmi, Co-Producer, Khabar Lahariya

        Dr. Cuterus (Dr. Tanaya), Content Creator & Educator, YouTube

        Neha Agrawal, Founder, Mathematically Inclined

        Aparajita Bharti, Founding Partner, The Quantum Hub -Moderator

14:00 - Room 2 - Workshop: Sandboxing a Regulatory Sandbox 

                              with The Children's Online Redress Sandbox

• This session explores how regulatory sandboxes can provide a safe space to test and refine policies and tools for child online safety. By enabling experimentation, sandboxes help balance innovation, protection, and children’s rights in the digital age.

        Ioanna Noula, Founder and Project Lead, COR Sandbox

15:00 - Room 2 - Closed Door Roundtable: Bridging Influence and Policy 

                            - A discussion on Responsible Content Creation

• A neutral, solutions-focused space for policymakers and content creators to: exchange perspectives on the responsibilities that come with influence, discuss how to align creative freedom with public interest, and
  explore policy and partnership pathways that promote trust, transparency, and constructive engagement online.

17:00 - Room 1 -  Closing remarks

17:15 - End of Day 2

Closing reception 

(by invitation only) 

Last updated 6 Oct 2025