India Is Writing Its Own Rules for the Internet, Not Importing Them

Much of the world's internet policy has followed one of two templates: the relatively light-touch US approach, or the EU's rights-first, heavily codified approach. India's approach increasingly resembles neither. Instead of only regulating private platforms, the state has built foundational digital infrastructure directly — identity, payments, data-sharing rails — and then set rules for how private companies plug into it.

This state-as-infrastructure-builder model changes the calculus for any company operating in India. Compliance isn't just about following rules for what you can't do; it's about integrating with public rails that are often mandatory to reach the market at meaningful scale, from payment systems to identity verification.

Whether this model expands elsewhere is one of the more consequential open questions in global tech policy. India isn't just regulating around the American and European models — it's demonstrating a third path, and other large developing markets are watching closely.