IAMAI and Facebook launch Internet safety programme for children in India

The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) has entered into a partnership with social networking company, Facebook to launch a new initiative that aims to sensitise students aged between 13-17 years about the safe Internet practices.

Under the partnership, children, teachers and parents will be trained on how to best use the Internet without compromising on safety and security. The programme also focusses on developing community awareness and envisages training to educators and child safety NGOs about the Internet safety practices.

Facebook will be helping with developing content and providing training materials and translation into regional languages.

The first phase of the programme will cover about 18,000 students across cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad. The initiative will be concluded with a national conference in New Delhi later this year. Other cities will be included in the next phase of the programme, slated to begin next year.

"IAMAI has been running the Safe Surfing campaign in India for past four years covering 6.25 lakh students across the country. We are delighted that Facebook has come forward to support this critical initiative and enrich the campaign with their global learnings," IAMAI President Subho Ray says.

"Safety is an ongoing conversation between parents and kids, teachers and students, companies and the people who use the Internet. We encourage parents to have conversations about safety and technology early and often, in the same way that they talk to their kids about being safe at school, in the car, on public transportation or playing sport," Facebook India Director of Public Policy, Ankhi Das said.