Kolkata police intensifies fight against cyberstalking and cyberbullying amid rising complaints
Times of India | 13 November 2024
KOLKATA: Cybercrimes are not always about monetary losses. They can be deeply personal and harmful, affecting social reputation. This is what the cyber cell is emphasising in its new interactions, not just in schools but also in housing complexes, which are being visited daily at the end of the festive season.
Lalbazar has decided to focus on cyberstalking and cyberbullying equally after a sharp rise in such complaints. These range from seemingly harmless actions, like relentlessly commenting on negative issues on a social media profile, to taking control of social media profiles through threats and abuse. The police are also advising people to lodge complaints. The various cyber cells received around 120 "actionable" cyberstalking complaints by October this year, compared to around 70 last year.
“We are asking victims to be aware, lodge immediate complaints, and speak out. They can lodge complaints directly with us or dial 1930. At both places, if required, counselling will be provided,” said an officer.
The Cyber Police Station under the detective department at Lalbazar, in an effort to “empower the next generation and identify the devils lying in the online world,” is also conducting special cyber awareness programmes at leading girls’ schools, educating students about online safety and digital citizenship.
The workshops involve officers addressing school and college students on basic cyber hygiene and the new forms of modus operandi that can target them. “The girl students are targeted more. Hence, they need to be extra careful,” said a police officer, adding how a class 10 boy recently shared obscene photographs of his own school seniors using AI, all victims being female students studying in classes 11 and 12.
“These were meant to be interactive sessions. This meant listening to students and asking them if they have faced cyberbullying or threats in any form,” stated a source.
“The objective of the programme is to create awareness and provide necessary information to students to prevent them from falling prey to cyber-crime bullying taking place everywhere in the world. The threat can come from anonymous sources or from those who form the closest ring. The Cyber-crime department at Lalbazar conducted the programme in collaboration with the school managements and housing societies,” said one school official.
“As police officers, we highlighted the importance of safeguarding personal information online, recognising and responding to cyber threats, and promoting responsible internet usage,” said an officer.
“We also talked about threats from the use of the internet on cell phones and apps. The idea was to discuss things that they use constantly throughout the day. While we started by pointing out how leaving a cell phone unattended can attract criminals, we then spent considerable time on why random downloading of apps, clicking on online advertisements, and deleting cache, cookies, and browsing history are important layers of ensuring greater cyber security for oneself,” stated another senior officer who was one of the presenters.
Police officers stated they faced multiple questions, several of which were linked to safe browsing and safer access to social media.
However, police are also planning a more permanent presence in schools. According to Kolkata Police Cyber Cell sources, one person—either a teacher or any other staff member—will be specially trained by the KP Cyber Department. The training will include both govt and private schools, and they will be trained over a certain period.
“The individual who gets trained will then act as the nodal officer for the institution and will later train all the other important stakeholders of the institution. This is how the Kolkata Police will guide and enlighten the common people right from the grassroots level in terms of cyber security,” said an officer from the detective department who will host the training.