The Kerala government will intensify cybercrime prevention under the Cyber Safe Kerala initiative. Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala said, "high literacy rate in the State did not necessarily translate into digital literacy." Officials plan to launch a police dashboard in November to track complaints and improve public awareness against online fraud.
Chennithala says high literacy rate in the State did not necessarily translate into digital literacy, leaving people vulnerable to online fraud even when they were well-educated
The Keralam government will intensify the ongoing cybercrime prevention and public awareness measures under the Cyber Safe Kerala initiative of the Kerala Police, Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala told the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday.
He also announced plans to introduce a dashboard in the first week of November to enable the Home Minister's Office to monitor the number of FIRs registered each day at police stations as well as their progress. An 'HM Acts' system would also be rolled out to make information about police action more accessible to the public.
Responding to questions during the Question Hour, Mr. Chennithala stressed that the high literacy rate in the State did not necessarily translate into digital literacy, leaving people vulnerable to online fraud even when they were well-educated.
Besides, the digital divide remains a concern despite Keralam's achievements on various fronts. A lack of awareness about online threats was one of the reasons people continued to fall victim to scams. Therefore, the government sought to strengthen awareness, particularly among children.
The Minister pointed out that the government was examining emerging forms of cybercrime, including the misuse of artificial intelligence to produce fake videos and images as part of its digital safety strategy. The Cyber Safe Kerala initiative would promote responsible digital behaviour and strengthen awareness. Such efforts would also cover cyberbullying, fake news, online fraud, excessive gaming, misuse of social media and protection of personal information.
As part of efforts to take cyber awareness into communities, the government plans to rope in students from 150 engineering colleges to propagate awareness across 1,200 villages.
The government was also initiating steps to establish Cyber Resilience Centres with support from the police, academia, industry and industry partners, he said.
Besides, the Minister specifically referred to Korean films while expressing concern over children's exposure to violent content. He also flagged the risks associated with excessive online gaming.