The show, MTV Webbed, has created quite the sensation, especially among the younger generation as it deals with people getting into serious trouble, even dying, as a result of online fraud, trusting unknown persons online, divulging their passwords etc.
In its second season, the one-hour episodes, hosted by Kritika Kamra, deals with trending topics inspired by real-life stories, which are extremely relevant in today’s day and age. For example, some of the episodes include a young rich boy being murdered by his girlfriend’s sister after she tries to dupe him online and gets caught; a girl harassing her ex’s current girlfriend resulting in the innocent boy landing in jail, a homophobic older brother torturing his younger sibling’s boyfriend after he gets hold of his brother’s laptop etc.
One of the episodes also tell the story of a girl running away to Mumbai to meet her favourite TV star, only to be raped by a man who pretended to be the star, online. We spoke to the host and the brains behind the show to know more. Kritika Kamra, the host of MTV Webbed says, “I decided to take it up because the show deals with relevant issues. MTV’s target audience is the youth who are more Web friendly… we have dealt with fake identity cases like people getting lured into paying to get fake jobs, people paying huge amounts of money to fake conmen to become actors etc.
“This time, we are bringing awareness about dealing in cash. We are not preaching but only making young people aware. Unless you get authentication of any individual’s identity you should not even meet them. There are many pen-friends, especially foreign women, who target men. They diplomatically ask their pen-friend to accommodate them at home and pay for their tickets too. Once the international online transaction is completed through Western Union and if that lady is not genuine, your money is gone.
“There will be future episodes on gambling too and girl child trafficking, which has also become a cyber crime, and which is managed through fake identities. We have one episode on how girls are abducted — they are called to meet the person and then abducted,” she says.
Sumeli Chatterjee, head, marketing & insights, MTV India, says, “MTV Webbed is inspired by real-life stories. The topics shown are very sensitive. So, a lot of research goes into understanding the teenagers’ perspective towards these cases, the story narrative has to be relevant and relatable to their world. The focus is on teenagers who literally live in social media and the virtual world. MTV Webbed is then a series that encourages the youth to surf smartly. Web is a part of life and empowers teens to explore more and gives exposure to the world.
“To ensure that we help create awareness in the right manner, we are working with an association that is dedicated to help create awareness about cyber crime — the Cyber Crime Awareness Society. As a part of this association, along with the show, we have also conducted cyber crime awareness seminars in schools and colleges across the country. And each episode of our show ends with a cyber expert giving easy tips and tricks on how people can protect themselves online. We understand that the Web is an important tool and that the right way ahead is not to scare people but to empower them to surf smart and stay safe.”
She continues, “The most common problems we encountered in our research on young people using the Internet is cyber bullying, people impersonating others and sending fake Facebook messages etc., recording videos and MMS. In a lot of the cases, we have come across young people being lured by people with malicious intent using false promises. A lot of people take advantage of young naive people and their vulnerabilities online.
“After our first season itself, we got a fabulous response from young people and their parents who tune in to the show because it provides valuable information. The CCAS helpline received an overwhelming number of calls from youngsters who had been ‘webbed’ in some manner or the other. This is what prompted us to return with a second season in less than six months of airing the first and now, we have extended the second season from the original 16 episodes to 24. We are glad to know that in some way we are helping youngsters with information that they can use to protect themselves while surfing the Internet.”
