Facebook to launch digital literacy program for Indian women
Social networking giant, Facebook has announced a partnership with the National Commission for Women (NCW), wherein they'll launch a digital literacy program for women in collaboration with the Cyber Peace Foundation (CPF). The training programs will be carried out in local languages in multiple states across the country, over a period of one year. Here are the details.
Facebook stresses on the importance of inclusion of women
"Economies can only grow well with equal participation from women, and in today's age, this can largely happen with the free and unhindered presence of women on the internet," said Ankhi Das, Facebook's Public Policy Director for India, South and Central Asia.
What we know about the digital literacy program
As part of the digital literacy program pilot, over 60,000 women in universities, across major cities in Delhi-NCR, Haryana, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Sikkim, and Tamil Nadu, will be provided awareness training. The interactive sessions would provide the women with training on safe and responsible use of the internet, social media, and emails. It will also teach them to differentiate between questionable and credible information.
Why teaching safe and responsible use of internet is important
The training program assumes particular significance in light of revelations made by NCW Chairperson, Rekha Sharma. She explained that with more women coming online, the NCW had witnessed a surge in cyber crime related complaints over the past three years. CPF President, Vineet Kumar echoed similar views, saying that cyber crime targeted at untrained/uninitiated women could be potentially disastrous for them.
Protecting women online is key to allowing freedom of expression
"This [the threat to cybersecurity] naturally calls for the protection of women when they are online in a manner which reassures and enables them to freely express themselves and share their views," explained Facebook's Ankhi Das, emphasizing the need for training.
