MTV joins hands with NGO to spread awareness on cyber abuse

'MTV Webbed' premieres tomorrow at 7 PM. It is an eye-opener for the youth and brings to screen real life instances of cyber abuse

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Mumbai | September 13, 2013

The internet is a great place to make friends, and a better place for faceless predators! Every like, share, comment, tweet has a butterfly effect. It has the power to change someone's life in a microsecond. A certain Miss Shetty found this out the hard way. Like millions of other girls of her age, she also innocently uploaded her picture on a popular networking site. Some boys started harassing her by posting photo-shopped nude pictures of her. Traumatised, she went into depression and became suicidal. What was her mistake? Just that she was the victim of cyber abuse like many others sailing in the same boat?

There's only one way to bring order to this chaos – awareness. Taking an initiative to arm the youth with awareness against cyber abuse, MTV, in association with the NGO Cyber Crime Awareness Society (CCAS), brings a drama series, 'MTV Webbed - Cyber Abuse. Real Stories'. The show will feature a series of fictional representations of real life cases and incidents that the youth encounter on the web. This show is backed by MTV's own pro social platform, MTV Act, that engages with over 20 NGOs and independent organisations to support cause based initiatives across verticals. Starting September 14, 2013 at 7 PM, 'MTV Webbed' targets the youth in the age group of 15-24 years.

Aditya Swamy

Aditya Swamy, EVP and Business Head, MTV India, said, “MTV has always been a mirror of what's happening in the world of the millenials and Webbed is that reflection. Given our obsession with pop culture, we know how young people are constantly changing. A generation of internet natives, they enjoy the benefits of being connected but what's changing is the dangers that this connectivity poses. The only way to protect yourself is to Think Before You Click.”

A ten-part series, MTV Webbed will have youth icons, from television heartthrobs Jay Bhanushali, Siddharth Shukla, Karan Vir Bohra, Ritwick Dhanjani to choreographer Salman Khan, beauties Pratyusha Banerjee, Sana Syed, Priya Wal and singer Chang. Each will host an episode and will emphasise the natural instinct of youth who let curiosity take the better of them only to regret it later and face the brutal consequences.

With new cases coming to light each day, cyber abuse can no longer be swept under the carpet. In the recent times, cyber abuse has grown exponentially with no signs of slowing down. 2012 saw 47.9 per cent rise in cyber forgery and 39.1 per cent rise in cyber fraud being reported under IPC category for cyber crimes. Through this show, MTV along with CCAS wishes to spread awareness and educate the youth about the correct safety measures. It's time to raise questions and give them a clear understanding of how their digital entitles can be abused and taken advantage of without necessary precautions.

Milind Agarwal, President, CCAS, said, “In the last few years, we have seen an increase in the number of cyber abuses being reported. Most of the youngsters do not know how to tackle this issue and what precautions are to be taken. This show will act as a medium for us to reach out to the numerous victims of cyber abuse. Also, MTV enjoys a huge fan following amongst today's youth and hence this was the perfect platform for us to reach out to all the teenagers who are and might face this problem.”

Those who wish to share their problems and raise questions can call on the direct Hotline number +91-9461101915 / 9024936930. Viewers can also share their experience by writing in to info@ccasociety.com / president@ccasociety.com / help@ccasociety.com. In addition to this youth can also confess something stupid they have done on the web by sharing their stories on mtvindia.com/webbed.

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

Info@BestMediaInfo.com