TING TONG! CRY launches pan-India campaign to build safer digital spaces for children
Special Correspondent
Newsbits.in
NEW DELHI: CRY – Child Rights and You launches 'TING TONG', has launched a nation-wide campaign on August 12 and seeks to build safer digital behaviours through one simple yet powerful habit – taking a pause before doing anything online.
The campaign recognises an urgent need to provide safe environment to the kids on the backdrop that for today's children, the internet is no longer just a place they visit – it is where they learn, play, make friends, express themselves and increasingly experience childhood itself.
As digital participation becomes an integral part of growing up, ensuring that online spaces are safe has emerged as one of the defining child rights challenges of our time, a CRY release said.
India today has more than 113 million internet users below the age of 18, making children one of the country's largest online communities.
While the digital world has opened unprecedented opportunities for learning, creativity, expression and participation, it has also exposed children to new and evolving risks – from cyberbullying, online grooming and image-based abuse to misinformation, privacy breaches and online exploitation.
The growing scale of these risks is reflected in recent data. According to the latest report by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB, 2024), India recorded more than one lakh cybercrime cases for the first time in 2024, while, since 2017, child cybercrime cases have increased 20-fold, with offences related to Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) increasing 157-fold.
Cases of cyber blackmailing, harassment and cyberbullying have also risen sharply over the same period, signalling how rapidly children's digital vulnerabilities are evolving.
Far more than mere statistics, these numbers point to a changing reality where children's safety and wellbeing are increasingly shaped not only by what happens around them, but also by what happens on their screens. Yet, many children continue to suffer in silence – hesitant to report harmful online experiences for fear of being blamed, punished or not believed.
Speaking on the launch of the campaign, Puja Marwaha, CEO, CRY – Child Rights and You, said: "Children today are growing up in two worlds – the physical and the digital. Just as we work to make our homes, schools and neighbourhoods safe, we must also ensure that the digital spaces children inhabit are safe, inclusive and respectful of their rights. Online safety is no longer merely a technology issue or a matter of digital hygiene; it is essentially a child protection issue.
The campaign draws inspiration from a simple principle that guides everyday life. Just as we instinctively pause before trusting a stranger or making an important decision, the digital world too demands moments of reflection.
CRY takes the sound ‘Ting Tong’ that every online notification begins with, and goes on to transform it into a symbolic reminder to pause before clicking a link, accepting a friend request, sharing a photograph, forwarding information or trusting unknown content.
Online safety, however, cannot become the responsibility of children alone. Creating safer digital spaces requires a collective effort from families, schools, communities, governments, technology companies, the media and civil society. It truly takes a village to protect children in today's interconnected world.
“Through Ting Tong, we want to encourage one small yet crucial behavioural change that every one of us can adopt. A simple pause before we click, trust, share or post online can make an enormous difference. Creating a safer internet for children is not the responsibility of one organisation or one institution or the government – it is a shared responsibility. When parents, teachers, communities, policymakers, technology platforms, the media and young people themselves come together, we can build a digital world where every child can learn, participate and thrive safely," Puja Marwaha said.
As India's digital landscape continues to expand, CRY invites every citizen to become part of this collective movement. Whether as a parent, teacher, student, policymaker, technology professional or community member, everyone has a role to play in shaping a safer online environment for children.
