Google Internet safety campaign reaches Delhi

Google India announced launch of its second leg of nationwide Internet safety
campaign, 'Be NetSmart', in collaboration with the government and local law
enforcement authorities.

The campaign was launched in Chennai on August 25, 2008, then initiated in
schools across Kolkata on September 2 and is now being taken to schools in New
Delhi starting September 15. The 'Be NetSmart Week' campaign is now being taken
to schools across Delhi in association with the Government of India's Department
of Information Technology and IAMAI.

The campaigns in Chennai and Kolkata was volunteered by Google employees and
police authorities who took the initiative of visiting English, Tamil and
Bengali-medium schools and reached nearly 11,140 students, 90 tea­chers, and 17
schools with the 'Be NetSmart' message.

The campaign mainly focuses on students, parents and teachers and aims to
celebrate the goodness of the Internet, applaud its impact on society, and
educate India's youth on Internet safety.

Shailesh Rao, MD, Google India said, “The Be NetSmart campaign is not a story
about one organization. It is a story about the young people of India using a
powerful medium like the Internet to realize their highest potential.”

He added that it is vital to empower the youth with all the tools and the
knowledge that would help them build a better future.

“It is time that we celebrate the role that Internet plays in our lives as a
platform for infor­mation sharing, self expression, and communi­cation. The Be
NetSmart campaign is a nucleus around which we would like to build a nationwide
campaign for making the Internet pleasurable, useful and safe,” said Dr Subho
Ray, President, Internet and Mobile Association of India.

Google India and IAMAI would join forces with other stakeholders to replicate
the success of the campaign in other Indian cities as well.