Staff Reporter, Dhaka : TikTok, the popular social media platform, has partnered with the JAAGO Foundation to launch a new campaign to promote online safety awareness in Bangladesh. The “Shabdhane Online” campaign was launched in November 2022 and will continue until March 2023.

The campaign aims to educate and build capacity among youth about internet safety and responsible usage of social media. The campaign reached all 16 districts of Rangpur and Rajshahi division with a workshop named “Online Safety Adda” to reach this goal. Participants attended the workshop through an online registration process.

During the session, participants were guided through a well-equipped module that provided them with knowledge on how to stay safe online, how to keep the internet a safer place for others, what’s the right thing to do in social media, what not to do in social media, the value of positive content, content creation tips and tricks, and many other related topics.

JAAGO Foundation has deployed aggressive online communication through all of its social media handles to spread the message online. One of the highlights of the campaign was a user-generated content competition where net users were asked to create content that reflects internet safety and social changes or any other positive content with a specific hashtag #ShabdhaneOnline. The competition received an overwhelming response, indicating that the message was well received by net users.

The campaign will end with two divisional meetups in Rangpur and Rajshahi to initiate a broad discussion and connect a bridge among different stakeholders on the issue of internet safety in Bangladesh. This one-day session will bring together participants of Online Safety Adda in each division, including government officials, civil society representatives, national social media influencers, NGO/INGO representatives, media personnel, academicians, and parents. A panel discussion will address internet safety issues between relevant stakeholders. Furthermore, two prominent social media influencers will join the divisional meetup to share their experience and insights about social media safety.

The “Shabdhane Online-e” campaign is a crucial step towards promoting responsible social media usage and ensuring online safety for all. It has already significantly impacted the youth in Bangladesh and is expected to continue doing so for years to come.