SAFER INTERNET-8th FEBRUARY

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So appropriately said by the man himself! 

It would not be wrong to say that the Internet is almost equivalent to the oxygen we breathe, and the food we eat. Some people have literally substituted the Internet for their lives, while there are still parts in the world who are not aware that such a term even exists. We will not get into the statistics because that might take us on a different ride altogether! But the fact remains that there are still about 7% of Americans in the United States that do not use the internet! Hard to believe, right? And of course, if you wandered in the Sahara desert or the Amazon forest, you might just experience connectivity issues!!

8th February has been made official by the Insafe/INHOPE network of European Safer Internet Centres(SICs) in collaboration with the European Commission. This network comprises a global community that provides space for all its stakeholders to work on promoting a viable, responsible, critical, creative and respectful use of digital technologies.

In 2004, Safer Internet Day began as an initiative of the EU SafeBorders project. A year later, it was taken up by the Insafe network as one of its earliest actions. Over the years, this has grown beyond its traditional geographic zone and is now marked in at least 200 countries and territories worldwide. Amid the pandemic, Safer Internet Day has become a landmark affair in the online calendar.

Issues like cyberbullying, digital identity, and other social networking problems are given special importance as the day aims to raise awareness about online issues and current concerns.

Every country has a national centre that implements awareness and educational campaigns. They also run a helpline for common people and work with the youth to ensure an evidence-based as well as multi-stakeholder approach for creating a better internet space. With its popularity, Safer Internet Day is also celebrated outside Europe. This year, the world celebrates the 19th edition of Safer Internet Day with the theme “Together for a better internet”. On this special day, stakeholders around the world come together to make the internet a safer and better place. 

The main concept behind this day is to strengthen the bonds and relationships with countries outside the network. Responsible stakeholders believe that through this bond they invest in a harmonized promotion of the campaign that is spread around the world.

We are all now connected to the Internet, like the neurons in the brain-Stephen Hawking