Zoom Video Communications has announced that it will support the expansion of Young Leaders for Active Citizenship’s (YLAC) Digital Champions program with the goal of promoting digital safety on the Internet among young adults.
The program will cover schools in 10 states in India and educate more than 50,000 students in grades 8 and above about digital privacy and security, according to a Zoom press release.
Through this initiative, Zoom will support YLAC to expand its program to institutions of more states in the country, especially where students are first-generation learners and lack primary knowledge of safe and meaningful use of the digital space. In addition, Zoom will support translations of digital security content into several Indian languages, starting with Hindi, the most widely spoken language in the country – extending the reach of the program to a wider population, the release added.
“At Zoom, we are doing everything we can to make the internet safer for everyone. We are happy to work with local partners to ensure that Indian youth are equipped with tools to make the most of the opportunities available to them through the Internet. As students across the country widely use our platform for distance learning, their safety and well-being remain our top priorities. This initiative will not only benefit Zoom users, but will also introduce internet novices to digital privacy and security,” said Iravati Damle, Director of Government Affairs, Zoom.
Aparajita Bharti, co-founder of YLAC, said: “The internet is fundamentally changing our society. At YLAC, we believe it is important to empower the next generation of digital citizens to take advantage of the opportunities available to them through technology while protecting themselves and their communities from its pitfalls. The Digital Champions program seeks to build this capacity and help young adults develop healthy digital habits.”
The content of the program, which is currently in English, is now being translated into Hindi and other Indian languages in an effort to bring the program to schools across India through partnerships with state governments and private educational institutions.
Zoom will further contribute to the program with sessions devoted to insights on Zoom’s features that focus on young adults’ online safety, administrator myth-busters such as data encryption, routing, and its efforts to improve access during the pandemic. , added the release.
Read all the latest news, breaking news and the war between Ukraine and Russia here.
