Mumbai: Bollywood actress Sonakshi Sinha has joined forces with Unesco to promote a safe and secure cyber environment for youngsters to ensure they are not targeted for bullying, abuse, exploitation and more through the internet.
A post on the official Twitter handle of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s New Delhi cluster office read on Thursday: “Sonakshi Sinha joins Unesco to promote safe and secure online environment for children and help empower our future digital citizens.”
Sonakshi retweeted it, and shared a video captioned: “I stand for protection of children.” In the video, she says: “Internet use in India is exploding and mobile access has really changed the game. But what does that mean for a country with the world’s largest child’s population? Is cyberspace safe for the children who are under 18? All 470 million of them? Do our girls get to lead their internet life with dignity? The truth is that the risks they are facing are shocking. “Children are easy targets for cyber bullying, online sexual abuse and exploitation, enticement to illegal behaviour and many more such horrific things. It is also true that internet and social media play a huge part in influencing the truth today. I am truly concerned, and as an active citizen, I would like to make sure that our boys and girls are protected both online and offline.”
Stressing on the importance of education on the safe use of online spaces, the actress said it will equip boys and girls to be prepared to report any type of abuse or exploitation. “This is something that has been highlighted by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals which I fully and truly support. That’s why I am joining forces with Unesco to help find cyber threats to children. I would also urge you to partner with Unesco and other agencies to help promote child safety online and help empower our future digital citizens. “Let’s come together to help build a safer cyber space for and with our children.” Unicef congratulated the “Dabangg” actress for being a champion of child rights. IANS