India’s market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), has stepped up efforts to combat the surge of online investment scams that mislead retail investors through fake trading platforms and unregistered advisory services. In a press release dated 6 November 2025, SEBI urged social-media platforms, search engines and app stores to institute stricter verification and removal mechanisms for investment-related advertisements and applications. The regulator proposed mandatory advertiser verification, clear labelling of registered market entities, and rapid takedown of fraudulent content to curb digital manipulation of investors.
The move reflects SEBI’s growing concern over the misuse of online ecosystems to promote unauthorised securities products and mirror legitimate trading apps. It builds on global principles issued by the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), which call for digital-platform collaboration to prevent financial harm to retail investors. SEBI also reiterated that intermediaries and platforms share joint responsibility for maintaining a secure digital marketplace and must proactively report suspicious promotions.
The initiative marks a major step in strengthening investor protection within India’s fintech-driven capital markets, aligning digital-platform governance with financial-market integrity. By extending accountability to social-media intermediaries, SEBI reinforces the transparency goals of Digital India and curbs systemic risks from online mis-selling and fraud.
Relevant Question for Policy Stakeholders: As SEBI formalizes platform accountability for financial scams, what standardized, verifiable metrics should be mandated for social media platforms to measure their effectiveness in removing fraudulent investment content and protecting user data?
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