India Has Made It Mandatory For All Cellphones To Have Panic Buttons To Keep Women Safe

    Yuuup, even brands like Apple and Samsung are expected to tweak their phones for this.

    Shayan Roy
    by Shayan Roy

    BuzzFeed Staff, India

    India's telecom ministry has taken active steps to improve women's safety, announcing a mandatory panic button on all phones starting from 2017.

    NOAH SEELAM/AFP / Getty Images

    The button will place a call to a dedicated helpline. Additionally, in-built GPS navigation is also to be made mandatory from 2018, which can help pinpoint the phone’s location in an emergency.

    All mobile phone manufacturers, including brands like Apple and Samsung, are expected to abide by the rules.

    ANNA ZIEMINSKI/AFP / Getty Images

    While the keys 5 and 9 will be used to make a call on phones with a numeric keyboard, smartphone makers will have to introduce a new button or method to make the call.

    Although the move was just announced, and won't be in place for another year, Twitter users have already formed some opinions on the matter.

    raja veerendiran @Hot3Laps

    How about teaching their men not to sexually assault people eh? https://t.co/sS4nDalyuZ

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    Dan. @DavidBilbert

    1. Good for India. 2. Poor, poor India. Get your shit together. https://t.co/ADXjkoeupG

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    lobsters @stillfrancesca

    Some people just lost control of what separates them from being animals so the gov't just made an app. https://t.co/aqUzmHsa1q

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    Let's hope this works.

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