Facebook and Ministry of Women and Child Development join hands to boost digital literacy

Facebook has announced an initiative to accelerate digital literacy efforts in India with an aim to make social networking safe and secure for women and children. Facebook will be partnering with the Ministry of Women and Child Development and form an ideal ‘Internet Consortium’ to propose recommendations for online child safety and also launch the We Think Digital initiative which is the company’s Global Digital Literacy Programme as part of the different initiatives planned.

Union Minister for Women and Child Development, Smriti Irani while speaking to a gathering at the second edition of Facebook’s South Asia Safety Sumit said that although internet opens doors for women and children to learn and gain knowledge it also instills a responsibility to make sure that they are safe and also enable them to express their views without any apprehension. She also added that efforts have been made to ensure encourage the cause of equal opportunity for women and also make sure that a safe environment for children is provided on the internet.

The South Asia Safety Sumit had over 100 organizations including Indian and other nations like from Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan

The minister also said that along with Facebook the ministry wants to build ways in which educated people can be equipped to help them make smart choices online and also learn about internet safety.

 ‘Thumbstopper’ Campaign will also be launched by Facebook next year which will be a series of short creative mobile videos under 10 seconds from the advertising community in the country focusing on empowering and educating people on issues such as gender equality, domestic violence, and girl child education.

Ankhi Das, Director of Public Policy at Facebook India who was also at the meeting said that the efforts towards digital literacy are focused on addressing the specific problem areas on social media which are essential regarding how we connect to and also interact with people and the online ethics and behaviour.

She also pointed out that programmes aimed at the user’s digital hygiene and also maintenance of online privacy and security are being built. Facebook is also said to be working with partners to train more than five mission people in India by 20201 supporting the economic and social good of the country.

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