Bangalore, November 4th, 2023: Extending its commitment to user safety and youth well-being, Meta today organized a Digital Suraksha Summit in Karnataka. The Summit was attended by Priyank Kharge, Honourable Minister for Information Technology and Biotechnology (IT & BT) Government of Karnataka, besides various creators, educators, CSO partners and members of parenting communities.
Earlier this year, Meta launched the Digital Suraksha Summit, building on its efforts to offer a safer and inclusive internet to everyone. It included a slew of measures on enabling digital education and literacy across youth well-being, child safety, tackling misinformation as well as the overall education of users towards various safety tools and resources available across Meta platforms.
Speaking on the occasion, Priyank Kharge, Honourable Minister for Information Technology and Biotechnology (IT & BT), Government of Karnataka, said, “India is witnessing rapid digital adoption. This further creates a need for users to be provided with easy-to-access tools and resources to safeguard their wellbeing online. The government of Karnataka is committed to working with various stakeholders and experts to create an enabling and inclusive digital environment. In this regard, it is commendable that companies like Meta are aligned with the government’s vision to keep people, especially women and youth, safe online. I appreciate their support in prioritizing online user safety of the people of Karnataka.”
Sandhya Devanathan, Vice President, Meta in India, added, “We are cognizant of the empowering role our apps are playing in the country – giving voice to millions of people, especially women and youth. We work tirelessly to put in place the right policies, products, and precautions so people have a safe and positive experience online. I am delighted to bring our Digital Suraksha Summit to Karnataka, the IT hub of the country and engage in a meaningful dialogue on how we can continue to partner with civil society organization and policy stakeholders to continue our industry leading effort in this area.”
Over the past three years, Meta has launched 30+ safety tools and features to promote online safety. Since a large percentage of online users today are teens, Meta has rolled out a series of initiatives and tools as part of its Youth Wellbeing efforts. These include features like ‘Quiet Mode’ on Instagram, which help give teen users more control over the time spent on the app and what they see.
Further, other recent features include Parental Supervision Tools and a Family Center to help parents get more involved in their teen’s experiences on Instagram. While the Parental Supervision Tools allow parents of young users to manage the time on Instagram, the Family Center includes an education hub. Similar tools have been introduced on Messenger, so parents can see how teens spend their time and who they interact with on Messenger. Meta has also introduced new tools to limit unwanted interactions in Instagram DM and Messenger and nudging teens to set time limits on Facebook.
Other features for Facebook include resources for child and women safety that can be found in the Safety Centre. These are designed to support parents, caregivers and educators with policies, resources and tools to support the safety and well-being of youth online, as well as provide access to host all the safety resources women would need when navigating the platform. Both resources are available in Kannada and 10 other Indian languages.
