“Cyber Safe Initiative” launched by Maharashtra Government

On January 3, 2020, Cyber Safe Initiative was launched by Maharashtra Government. The initiative was launched commemorating the birth anniversary of Indian Social Reformer Savitribai Phule. Savitribai Phule was the first female teacher of India.

Highlights

The aim of the initiative is to spread awareness against atrocities committed against children and women. It will also create awareness about laws on cybercrime. The campaign is to be implemented all over the state by the State Government in collaboration with state police, public relations department and cyber cell.

The campaign is to be launched in all districts of Maharashtra creating awareness about laws existing in cybercrimes. It will also create awareness against crimes such as bank frauds, child pornography, photo shuffling, online gaming, cyber defamation information and false information sites.

Central measures against cybercrimes

At central level, the Ministry of Home Affairs runs a twitter handle called “Cyber Dost” that creates pertinent posts on prevention and protection against cybercrimes. The Home Affairs Ministry had also launched the Cyber Crime Prevention against women and children Scheme in January 2019. The scheme had a total outlay of Rs 223.198 crores. The main features of the scheme include online cybercrime reporting platform, research and development, cybercrime awareness activities.

Significance

According to Crime Report-2017, released by NCRB (National Crime Record Bureau) in 2019, the number of cyber crimes in the country have been increasing constantly. In 2014, the number of cyber crimes were 9,622, in 2015, it increased to 11,592 and in 2016 the number of cybercrimes were 12,317.

The legal framework of cyber crimes is provided by the Information Technology Act, 2000.

Month: Current Affairs - January, 2020