Meta launches ‘Meri Trustline’: What the free helpline for children facing online safety concerns offers – Times of India

To help children and parents address concerns of online safety, Facebook-parent Meta is supporting the RATI Foundation (Aarambh India Initiative) to launch ‘Meri Trustline’. It is a helpline dedicated to offer support to children under the age of 18 years who are in distress on account of facing online safety concerns, such as cyber bullying and loss of control over sensitive media including self-generated child sexual abuse material.
How the ‘Meri Trustline’ helpline will work
The helpline, operational between 9 am to 5 pm from Monday to Friday, will offer support in six distinctive ways depending on the need and severity of the issue – Technical Support will include assistance in taking down content that the child feels is intimate/private. Meri Trustline (6363176363) will be available in both Hindi and English to children and other stakeholders including caregivers, parents/guardians, teachers, siblings, young-adults, and allies. Other institutions or organizations dealing with or acting on behalf of children can also call on the helpline.
Emotional Support will be offered in the form of counseling to callers in mental distress; Social Support will extend to callers that require social work intervention including family intervention, Informational Support will include factual and expert knowledge regarding the issue, Legal Support which includes legal advice and intervention for victims and families and Referral Support that will connect the victims to organizations across India & institutions including law enforcement, as per the company.
For children looking for support related to self-generated sensitive images or non-consensual intimate images, RATI Foundation will connect the caller with Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), UK, to take action to prevent these images from surfacing online. The Foundation will also provide support in connecting the children and caregivers to relevant law enforcement agencies.
Child Safety features on Facebook and Instagram
For those unaware, Facebook too offers a a Child Safety Hub on its platform. It is aimed to support parents, caregivers and educators with policies, resources and tools on safety and well-being of youth online. Available in 13 Indian languages, the hub expands upon Meta’s research-based programmes in the areas of online safety, digital literacy, well-being, and bullying prevention.
A Parents’ Guide is available in English and 7 Indian languages on Instagram. The Guide is aimed at helping young people be safe, by informing parents about all the safety features that exist on the platform.