‘Ting Tong’ CRY Launches Pan-India Campaign to Promote Safer Digital Spaces for Children

With more than 113 million children under the age of 18 using the internet in India, ensuring their safety in the digital world is emerging as a critical child rights challenge. Addressing this growing concern, CRY – Child Rights and You has launched a nationwide campaign, ‘TING TONG’, urging children, parents, educators and communities to pause before clicking, sharing, posting or trusting content online.

The campaign, which kicks off on August 12, is built around a simple behavioural message: pause before doing anything online. CRY uses the familiar sound of an online notification “Ting Tong” as a reminder to stop and think before clicking a link, accepting a friend request, sharing a photograph, forwarding information or trusting unknown content.

According to data cited by CRY from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) and the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), children below 18 accounts for approximately 14% of India’s internet users, amounting to around 113 million users. Among children aged 13 to 16, 65.3% have access to a mobile device, while 37.8% actively use the internet and 21.3% use social media.

The digital divide is also reflected geographically. In metropolitan areas, 73.1% of children reportedly have access to mobile devices and 49.3% use the internet, compared with 64.2% and 33.3%, respectively, in less-developed villages.

At the same time, children’s exposure to online risks is increasing. CRY cites NCRB data showing that reported cybercrime cases involving children have increased 20-fold since 2017, although the number recorded in 2024 declined by around 8% compared with the previous year’s peak.

The organisation also highlights a sharp increase in offences involving Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), as well as cyber blackmailing, harassment and cyber bullying. According to the campaign material, CSAM-related offences increased 157-fold between 2017 and 2024.

CRY says the risks children encounter online range from cyber bullying and online grooming to image-based abuse, misinformation, privacy violations and online exploitation. These risks increasingly affect children’s safety and wellbeing beyond the physical spaces traditionally associated with child protection.

Puja Marwaha, CEO of CRY – Child Rights and You, said children are growing up simultaneously in physical and digital environments and that both need to be safe, inclusive and respectful of children’s rights. She emphasised that online safety should be viewed not simply as a technology or digital hygiene issue, but as a child protection issue.

The campaign therefore seeks to build awareness and digital resilience among children, parents, caregivers, educators and the media. It also aims to integrate online safety into school- and community-based child protection initiatives and equip children and adolescents with age-appropriate knowledge, confidence and pathways to seek help when they encounter harmful situations online.

A central message of ‘TING TONG’ is that the responsibility for children’s online safety cannot rest with children alone. CRY calls for collective action involving families, schools, communities, governments, technology companies, media organisations and civil society.

The campaign also seeks to influence public discourse and policy by positioning children’s online safety within India’s broader child rights, policy and governance framework. CRY hopes to encourage sustained engagement across national and regional media while promoting online safety as an area requiring long-term investment.

India’s expanding digital ecosystem is creating unprecedented opportunities for children to learn, communicate, create and participate. But greater digital access also brings new vulnerabilities that require awareness, safeguards and collective responsibility.

Through its ‘TING TONG’ campaign, CRY is attempting to turn a simple pause into a practical habit encouraging everyone to think before they click, trust, share or post. Ultimately, protecting children online will require more than individual caution; it will depend on families, educators, communities, policymakers, technology platforms, media and children themselves working together to build a digital environment where every child can participate safely and confidently.