Jakarta, 28 August 2017 — Today, Facebook joined YCAB Foundation, a non-profit that focuses on youth development, to launch a Digital Literacy Program. The six month program aims to support teens with the development of critical thinking skills and emphaty when using social media. YCAB and Facebook will host 100 events in 100 high schools for students across Jakarta and surrounding cities. The content was developed by YCAB and Facebook, and focuses on basic internet safety tips and digital literacy skills relevant for young Indonesians.
Facebook aims to give people the power to build communities and bring the world closer. Indonesia’s Facebook community is vibrant and active with 115 million people. And as it continues to grow, Facebook wants to empower its users to continue to build a safe and authentic community.
Clair Deevy, Head of Economic Growth Initiatives, APAC, Facebook, said, “Indonesia is a community that continues to grow as people use Facebook to connect to friends, groups, businesses and moments that matter most to them. We are proud to continue our work with YCAB to support young people continue to build their Digital Literacy skills to ensure we continue to enjoy a safe and respectful community online. In 2016, we trained 1,400 youths offline and this year we’re hoping to reach 10,000 youths at 100 schools.”
M. Farhan, Secretary General of YCAB Foundation, said, “YCAB’s mission is to help Indonesia’s young people be self-reliant. The Digital Literacy Program is an important part our our work to support the online safety of our young people and ensure they have the right skills to contribute to creating positive online communities. The program has been designed to help students analyse content on social media and implement their own critical thinking and empathy to understand how it informs their opinion. We want to empower students to consider the content they share on social media and the impact of what is shared on social media.”
The Digital Literacy 100 workshops in 100 high schools will be complemented by an online campaign and Campaign Day Out supported by Do Something Indonesia. The Campaign Day Out will bring together the best groups from the schools that will be recognized at Safer Internet Day on 6 February 2018.
Demas Ryan, Senior Program Specialist Do Something Indonesia, said, “Through the success of last year’s Think Before You Share program, Do Something Indonesia is hoping to go further in terms of impact and behavioral change. That is why Think Before You Share is back with a longer period of time and an engaging online campaign that promotes positivity in the digital world. We believe that a small action such as posting something positive online, could create a bigger ripple that builds healthy digital ecosystem.”
This year’s program extends the initial “Think Before You Share” guide, launched in 2016, which Facebook, YCAB and anti-bullying movement Sudah Dong conducted to encourage teens to “Share Good Things”. The month-long tour included 7 cities including Jakarta, Malang, Denpasar, Balikpapan, Palembang, Bandung, and Surabaya, engaging 3.5 million people, including 1,400 youths across 101 local communities.