Online harassment: Meta, police join hands to run awareness campaign

New Delhi: The best analogy for cyberspace is a Turkish hamam, where beneath a thick coat of foam, everyone is hiding a secret. The only difference is that in the world of the internet one is constantly at mercy of the caprice of others, and the protective foam is hardly there . The fear of leaking nudes, or intimate pictures online is not lost on the internet companies, which have been devising tools to prevent such a thing from happening. One such measure is being undertaken by Meta India and Delhi Police, which jointly have decided to educate at least 10,000 school students on internet abuse and teach them the use of safety tools. At least 12 workshops will be organised and 10,000 students will be part of it, police said.

The collaboration will be made official on February 7, observed as Safe Internet Day, police said. The two together will teach children about tools such as StopNCII.org – a free mechanism designed to support victims of Non-Consensual Intimate Image (NCII) abuse. The tool works by generating a hash from your intimate images or videos, and then sharing the hash with participating companies so they can help detect and remove the images from being shared online, police here said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (PRO) Suman Nalwa said their objective is to prevent cyber crimes, to make people aware of different ways of committing cyber crimes, and how they can prevent themselves and their near ones who might fall prey to such acts. "We are trying to reach out to the people of Delhi and educate them to stay safe, have a safe internet usage for themselves, their children and their family. "With private partners coming together with us, there is more information and tools available with them which can help Delhiites.

So, that is what is bringing us together. The more the awareness and prevention, the better for us," she told PTI. According to the police, Meta will train Delhi Police personnel on its safety tools as part of its digital literacy programme and will organise workshops in schools as a part of the Cyber Jagarukta Diwas. It will also create short videos and other multimedia content on best practices for cyber safety. These assets will be co-branded and disseminated via Delhi Police's social media handles. Nalwa said, "In collaboration with Meta India, we will be doing an awareness campaign which will also include a metro wrap carrying messages related to various cyber awareness." These messages will also be disseminated on social media handles of the police, she said.