Meta announced ‘Meri Trustline’ to help children facing safety issues online

Thanks to the two years of the pandemic-related lockdown, more and more kids have come online to study, play, for entertainment, and also to keep in touch with friends and family. However, as emancipating as the situation might be, children are also the most at risk when it comes to safety issues online as most do not have the necessary knowledge and resources that can keep them safe.

In an effort to help keep these kids safe, Meta is supporting the Rati Foundation (Aarambh India Initiative) to launch the ‘Meri Trustline’. As the name would suggest, Meri Trustline is a dedicated helpline that can offer support to kids under the age of 18 who are facing any form of distress online. These incidents could stem from cyber bullying, or access to sensitive media online including self-genarate child sexual abuse material, and other problemmatic issues on the web.

The Meri Trustline will be operational between 9 AM to 5 PM, Mondays to Fridays and will offer support in six distinctive ways depending on what the child needs and the severity of the issue at hand. There is ‘Technical Support’ that included taking down content that the child considers intimate/private. ‘Emotional Support’ will look into offering counselling to callers and ‘Social Support’ will connect callers to the necessary social work intervention including family intervention. Then there is ‘Informational Support’ that will equip the caller with factual and expert knowledge regarding the issues they are facing. ‘Legal Support’ includes legal advice and intervention where it is deemed necessary, and ‘Referral Support’ will connect the callers/victims to organisations across the country that can help them, including law enforcement.

For kids who are looking for support related to “self-generated sensitive images or non-consensual intimate images”, the Rati Foundation will “connect the caller with Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), UK to take action to prevent these images from surfacing online,” Meta said in the announcement adding that callers/parents will also be connected to the relevant law enforcement agencies in these cases.

The Meri Trustline (6363176363) will be available in both Hindi and English and can be accessed by children and other stakeholders including “caregivers, parents/guardians, teachers, siblings, young-adults, and allies”. All institutions and organisations dealing with or acting on the behalf of children can also call the helpline. The helpline has a team of conselors, tech and mental health experts on call to address these calls and the Rati Foundation also works closely with a group of lawyers, law experts, and social workers to support calls based on individual needs.

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