Always believed your digital rights deserved more protection? Gauging the need for the same, 23-year-old Karthik Balakrishnan, a Bengaluru-based engineering graduate joined hands with a six member team, aiming to bring about the change, we’ve all wanted to see – with Internet Freedom Foundation, an NGO, which intends to protect the open Internet and your rights with it. We chat up with the enterprising youngster, who tells us more...
“It was on my mind for long. The fact that as a country, we’re growing stupendously as the number of digital users, I think this is the need of the hour. That’s when I decided to volunteer with others. We started out by working on SavetheInternet.in campaign. It was inspiring and helped us strive a little harder. As an active Internet user, this is what Independence truly means to me, at this day and age,” opines Karthik, elucidating about the volunteer-run community that focuses on Net neutrality, free expression and fighting censorship, privacy and encryption, and innovation.
An alumnus of the Vellore Institute of Technology, Karthik tells us how he’s always been passionate about Internet movements. “I’ve always been glued on to everything that’s got to do with the digital scene,” admits the tech geek, adding, “I recently hosted a board gaming night with a friend, and I love attending music shows in the city. Basically, board games and video games are what I do during weekends,” says the youngster who recently also started out ReROLL, with a board gaming collective.
Speaking about what’s next, he reiterates the importance of stronger policies, “I think it’s about time we all did something to savetheinternet. Our future work will include supporting research and aiding policymakers, building campaigns and legal interventions, and deploying technology in order to protect users and advance the public interest. We are excited about the work we have planned in the coming months!”
