Social Networks Promise To Make Internet Safer For Women, Here's How

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The national capital witnessed the launch of the Online Safety Summit for Women by SheThePeople.TV. The summit got together key voices to discuss solutions of the increased online breaches and sexual harassment of women through online portals. Representatives of all social networks were present and promised to make Internet Safer For Women. They focussed on the new initiatives in this direction along with the new products they are launching to check harassment online.

As women who thrive in the digital world, this effort was to bring together to discuss and debate what will make the internet a more equal space. Why many women still fear the internet. Just how can we make it safer, not just as a place to communicate and network, but grow, learn, transact and more.

The summit started with the panel discussion titled "The Social Safety Network" with panelists from Twitter, Facebook and Google. This session threw light on how popular consumer platforms like FB, Twitter, and Google are fixing the safety challenges faced by a country like India.

"The internet is the invisible force driving advancement for women in India. It opens up economic opportunities, helps with education and gives women a voice.  We want to help women in India capitalize on this opportunity and help keep them safe while doing so," Ankhi Das, Public Policy Director, Facebook -India, South & Central Asia said.

What are the ways in which women can be given a voice? "In the last couple of months, we have been rolling out product updates. We have some new enforcement mechanisms in place too. What happens if we think a tweet has violated twitter rules, we may ask them to delete that tweet before we can resume access to their account. We are finding some improvement. This tells the user why they went wrong and where they went wrong," says Mahima Kaul, Public Policy Head of Twitter India.

Reporting remains a big part of the effort of enforcement of behaviour online. "When somebody reports, it's important to understand local language and cultural contexts as well," says Sunita Mohanty of Google India. "With the government we also partner for law enforcement trainings."

Ankhi Das added, "We have policies which prohibit bullying, impersonation, harassment and hate speech; products which are designed to help prevent abuse and help those in need; and we work with a variety of non-profits to deliver safety educations programs across the country.  We believe that by working together, through organizations like SheThePeople, we can have a greater impact on helping women in India stay safe online."

Shaili Chopra, Founder, SheThePeople.TV said, “All stakeholders needed to get together and explore a consolidated approach for the safety of women from the trolls, eve teasing, stalking and other crimes aimed at them at online portals.  It is a scaled effort to bring to light the experiences, lessons of varied organizations and make the women better prepared for the dangers lie hidden in the future of the online world.”