Social Media Courses In College To Help Students Fight Cyber Crime: Education Ministry

Social media platforms have become both a boon and a bane across the globe. To keep the good stuff going, the Union Education Ministry has asked higher education institutes to draft courses on social media. Here, students will learn to report, flagging content, laws about posting inappropriate content, and so on.

More importantly, the social media course for students will help better understand, report, and fight cybercrime as part of the curriculum. Working on the instructions of the Home Ministry, the Education Ministry has asked institutes to draft syllabi for undergraduate and post-graduate students of all streams, including medicine, engineering, management, and others, reports The New Indian Express.

Need For Social Media Course

The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs' cybercrime co-ordination center suggested the need to curb cybercrimes by raising awareness among the youth. Hence, the social media course for students would include the basic 'dos and don'ts' on social media platforms. The recommendation also suggested including a common 'cuber-safe' curriculum with hands-on training for students.

The recommendation comes after an interaction with representatives from IIT Delhi, UGC, Delhi University, and the All India Council of Technical Education. The interactive highlighted the need for a strategy to be prepared for unforeseen challenges of cybercrime, which led to the need for a social media course.

Social Media Course: What To Expect

The report further suggests a few topics that would be included in the social media curriculum. The present recommendation suggests four units as part of the course, which includes electronic payments and safeguards, cybercrimes and safety, introduction to a social network, and IT act 2000 and its use in cyberspace.

The course would be mandatory for both UG and PG students, who would be taught the safe and proper use of social media networks. The concept and use of cyber hygiene in daily life, reporting online crimes, and other such topics would be part of the curriculum.

India has one of the largest youth population, with nearly everyone having a social media account. Creating general awareness and knowing the legal boundaries of these platforms would benefit in the longer run.