Events

The Centre for Policy Research and The School of Law, BML Munjal University, invite you to the inaugural lecture of the 

Delhi Public Law Forum

A series of conversations on law, society, and public discourse.

The Addictive Design of Social Media Platforms: Law and Policy Challenges | Delhi Public Law Forum

Speaker:

Apar Gupta, Founder Director of the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF), Lead Counsel at the Law Offices of Apar Gupta 

Discussants:

Vikas Kathuria , Professor at the School of Law, BML Munjal University and Head of the Centre on Law, Regulation and Technology (CLRT) 

Lawrence Liang, Professor at the School of Law, BML Munjal University

Moderator

Shardool Kulkarni, Assistant Professor at the School of Law, BML Munjal University

Friday, 25 September 2026, 4 PM IST onwards.

This event will be held in a hybrid mode at the CPR Conference Room and online via Zoom. Kindly register below to attend.

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About the talk:

Social media platforms are built to keep us looking. Infinite scroll, autoplay, personalised feeds, notifications and likes are not incidental features of the experience; they are part of an architecture designed to capture, retain and monetise attention. 

This talk examines the emerging legal and policy questions around the addictive design of social media platforms, shifting the focus from what appears on our screens to the architecture that keeps us on them. The question has acquired new urgency in India, before the Delhi High Court, which has sought the Centre’s position on whether it is considering a policy to address what a public interest petition describes as “engagement-maximising” and “addiction-causing” design features. The petition has called for an expert committee to examine these practices and recommend safeguards.

At stake is a deeper question about choice and autonomy. When a product is deliberately designed to siphon attention, where does user choice end and platform influence begin? And what happens when the incentives of platforms are tied to keeping users engaged for longer, particularly younger users?

The talk will explore the tensions between platform incentives, consumer welfare, competition and individual autonomy, and ask whether existing frameworks of consumer protection, competition law and public regulation are equipped to address harms braided in product design rather than in particular pieces of content. It will also consider what forms of intervention might address these incentives without losing sight of the benefits social media can offer.

About the speaker:

Apar Gupta is a lawyer and writer on democracy and technology, and the Founder Director of the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF). He has acted as a counsel in leading constitutional cases on freedom of speech and privacy. Apar was the co-founder of the SaveTheInternet.in, a grassroots campaign that mobilised over a million Indians and secured strong net neutrality safeguards, and since 2018, he leads IFF where he pairs campaigns with policy advocacy and impact litigation on issues of digital access and coercion. He has assisted in drafting three distinct Private Member’s Bills introduced in the Lok Sabha also deposed before Parliamentary Committees of Information Technology; and, Science and Technology on topics of study including Net Neutrality, Internet Shutdowns, Online obscenity and the DNA Bill. In recognition of this work, Apar was elected an Ashoka Fellow in 2019 and named by Rest of the World in its ROW100 for Global Tech’s Changemakers. Apar writes and speaks widely on law, technology and democratic governance and is globally cited as an expert by publications including Wired, MIT Tech Review, Financial Times and the Guardian. 

About the Discussants:

Vikas Kathuria is a Professor at the School of Law, BML Munjal University and heads the Centre on Law, Regulation and Technology (CLRT). He researches and writes on competition law, data governance, and Law & Technology in general. Vikas received his PhD from Tilburg University, the Netherlands. His post-doc work at the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition, Munich, explored the role of competition law and regulation in data-driven markets. Vikas has previously worked with the Competition Commission of India (CCI). His research papers have been featured in international peer-reviewed journals.

Lawrence Liang is a Professor at the School of Law, BML Munjal University. He researches and writes on intellectual property, media law, and the intersection of law, culture, and technology. Lawrence received his B.A.LL.B.(Hons.) from NLSIU, Bangalore, his LLM from the University of Warwick, and his Doctorate in Film Studies from the School of Arts and Aesthetics, JNU. Lawrence was a co-founder of the Alternative Law Forum, and the founding Dean and Professor at the School of Legal and Socio-Political Studies, Ambedkar University, Delhi. He has also been a Visiting Scholar at Yale, Columbia and other universities. He is the recipient of the Infosys Prize (Social Sciences) and the New India Foundation Book Fellowship.

About the Moderator

Shardool Kulkarni is an Assistant Professor at the School of Law, BML Munjal University. He has previously taught at the National Law University, Delhi and the Symbiosis Law School, Noida. His core research and teaching interests lie at the intersection of public law and legal history, with his current work focusing on the role of ideology in making judicial appointments during the 1970s. He completed his LL.M. with highest honours from the Buchmann Faculty of Law, Tel Aviv University. Prior to embarking on a career in academia, he was a Junior Advocate at the Chambers of Dr. Abhinav Chandrachud, where he worked on a range of constitutional, public interest and criminal litigation before the Bombay High Court.