Hyderabad: Facebook has launched a digital literacy library for teaching kids in the age group of 11-18 years to help them use the Internet in a secure manner. There is no mention of fake news or misinformation, even though it covers concepts of privacy and reputation, identity exploration, positive behaviour, security, and community engagement. These 18 lessons are currently available in English and can be used in classrooms for training purposes.
Facebook has a large user base in India and this programme needs to be tailored to suit the audience, opined experts. “It is certainly useful for kids, but the training shouldn’t be restricted to age alone. India has a lot of first time Internet users. They are just getting acclimatised to the pre-installed apps that their phones offer. So, a crash course of sorts would help adults as well,” opined social media expert Arun Dixit.
The lessons have been created from over 10 years of academic research and cover a whole lot of things including having healthy relationships online and recognising phishing scams. They even have group activities including scenarios like ‘over-texting’. This comes as a step to reduce fake news from spreading. The literacy library however does not showcase how one can spot impending problems of Facebook. It may be mentioned here that earlier this year, Facebook added Youth Portal on their platform.
“Fake news is spreading because of the lack of training and social media platforms need to incorporate some basic mandatory training. India needs customised training programmes, as one size does not fit all. Apart from English, there is a need to have local languages and the localisation of content is imperative,” said a senior Hyderabad police official. Facebook is planning to add 45 more languages to cater to a wider populace.
