"These book’s articles are the result of the First Conference on Digital Literacy, Citizenship and Disinformation in Times of Pandemic, jointly organised by the UNESCO Regional Office in Montevideo, Uruguay, and the Public Defender’s Office of Audience Rights. Five thousand people participated i
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n the event, either following the live streaming or visualising the recordings afterwards [...] The main purpose of the meeting was to bring together researchers, academics, public policy managers, community and private organizations, to share experiences and knowledge on Media and Information Literacy (MIL); to synthesise experiences on MIL development, disinformation and hate speech in pandemics; to systematise the effects of the pandemic on the education system with different actors involved and to prepare proposals for the development of future public policies. Among other results, this meeting led to this book, which we are now pleased to introduce. As a result of this Conference, the Public Defender's Office also carried out a survey with elementary and high school teachers from all over the country, as part of a supporting plan about communication in conventional media and digital platforms. This survey confirmed that a very high proportion of the respondents state they need training on this subject for their work. When confronted with the question “Do you think you need more training in Communication Media and Technologies?” 88.3% of the participants answered affirmatively, and only 11.7% said “no”, according to preliminary results." (Introduction, page 19-20)
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"[...] There are 70 million individuals who are administrators of Facebook groups. Many more coordinate groups across other platforms such as WhatsApp, Signal, and others, which are often run on mobile devices - with a global user base of 5.34 billion unique mobile users. Group administrators and mo
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derators act as “community stewards.” They are individuals in charge of reviewing user-generated content to ensure users adhere to rules, regulations, and community standards of social media platforms. They hold tremendous influence over the experience of their users, but they often step into these roles without fully understanding the scope of responsibilities they are taking on. Many community stewards describe their role as a “labor of love,” representing a substantial opportunity to catalyze large-scale, positive social change across societies. Yet, they face many challenges. Stewards cite myriad challenges, risks, rewards, and opportunities they face in managing their online groups and pages.
This report focuses on the role of community stewards in promoting healthier relationships in their online and digital groups in conflict-affected and fragile countries. There is growing evidence of the societal impacts stewards are driving through their platforms, such as mobilizing aid during crises, raising awareness on important issues, and fostering solutions to community challenges. Given their unique reach, influence, and trust, community stewards hold great potential to not only mobilize positive social change, but also to foster connection and belonging in a way that positively transforms relationships and disrupts the toxic polarization that divides societies and fuels violence. The potential of community stewards is clear; it is less clear how civil society, the private sector, governments, and others can best support and scale up this potential. Understanding the needs and incentives of community stewards to proactively use their roles for building healthier online (and offline) communities can help build on what works. Understanding the barriers and challenges they face in doing so, will serve as critical entry points for mobilizing the right support to stewards. This report looks to uncover the barriers and opportunities that stewards face in their efforts to build healthier and safer online communities in conflict-affected and fragile places." (Introduction)
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"The Tanzania DECA report presents the findings and recommendations of the Tanzania DECA. It outlines the key aspects of Tanzania’s digital ecosystem and provides 13 recommendations for creating a more inclusive, safe, and enabling environment. Guided by USAID/Tanzania priorities: i) foundational
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skills of children below age 15; ii) increasing empowerment, productivity, and engagement of Tanzanians aged 15 to 35; and iii) strengthening capacity of state and non-state actors to benefit future generations, the DECA process included desk research, consultations with USAID/Tanzania technical offices, and 76 key informant interviews with stakeholders from civil society, academia, and the private and public sectors. Key findings include: while the Government of Tanzania prioritized increasing connectivity for all citizens over the last two decades, last-mile connectivity gaps persist; there is a large usage gap in Tanzania that is attributed to factors including lack of device and mobile broadband affordability, low levels of digital literacy, and a dearth of locally relevant content; while there has been greater openness over the past two years, nearly all of the restrictive laws remain in place and prospects for amending or repealing them remain uncertain; the government is committed to developing and promoting digital government services and systems and often relies on software solutions developed in-house; while the government has a National Cyber Security Strategy (NCSS) 2018-2022 that outlines a comprehensive framework for detecting, preventing, and combating cyber threats, the strategy is not shared widely or publicly; mobile financial services are at the forefront of digital financial services uptake; Tanzania’s startup ecosystem is growing, with startups in a variety of sectors, although it is in its infancy and not yet enabled by explicit policies or regulations; E-commerce is in early stage development in both supply and demand. Weak enabling factors such as logistics infrastructure, addressing systems, and consumer protections regulations prevent the sector from realizing its full potential." (https://www.usaid.gov/digital-development)
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"The Honduras Digital Ecosystem Country Assessment (DECA) report presents the findings and recommendations of the Honduras DECA. It outlines the key aspects of Honduras' digital ecosystem and provides 9 recommendations for creating a more inclusive, safe, and enabling environment. Guided by USAID/Ho
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nduras priorities, which include i) facilitating a systems change approach - social, economic, justice and security, environmental, education; ii) partnering and co-creating with the private sector to capitalize on shared values, forster innovation, and facilitating joint investment where interests align; and iii) generating opportunities for citizens - especially youth - to actively engage and invest in their future in Honduras, the DECA process included desk research, consultations with USAID/Honduras technical offices, and 76 key informant interviews with stakeholders from civil society, academia, and the private and public sectors. Key findings include: digital transformation is a priority of President Xiomara Castro’s new administration; an outdated telecommunications legal and regulatory environment is hindering connectivity expansion, affordability, and accessibility; efforts to digitize education are succeeding, but digital literacy lags and requires a concerted strategy; there are not effective data protection and cybersecurity regulations; the Government of Honduras lacks the capacity to prosecute digital crimes; there is a focus on countering mis- and disinformation by civil society, but a joint strategy is required for greater impact; the level of financial inclusion continues to be low due to systematic weaknesses, such as poor connectivity infrastructure, and supply-side factors, such as the lack of relevant traditional and digital financial services; e-commerce is slow to take off in Honduras, except in the two largest cities, Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula; the digital talent pool does not currently meet the labor market demand." (https://www.usaid.gov/digital-development)
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"Mehr Freiheit und mehr Demokratie waren die großen Versprechen des Internets. Doch inzwischen konzentriert sich die Macht bei einigen wenigen Tech-Giganten. Dabei bietet das Netz selbst eine Lösung, um sein ursprüngliches Freiheitsversprechen zu bewahren: die nichtkommerzielle digitale Gegenwelt
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. Zu ihr zählen etwa die Online-Enzyklopädie Wikipedia, die Twitter (X)-Alternative Mastodon, der Browser Firefox oder der Messenger Signal. Es liegt an uns, wie stark wir die digitalen Herausforderer machen. Stefan Mey stellt in Porträts die Protagonist*innen, Ziele, Strategien und Geschäftsmodelle der digitalen Gegenwelt vor. Von ihnen gibt es weitaus mehr, als wir gewöhnlich denken. Sie sind die digitalen Gegenstücke von Greenpeace, Attac oder Amnesty International und formen die digitale Zivilgesellschaft. Um das Internet besser, fairer und freier zu machen, muss man nicht Informatik studieren, kein Start-up gründen und auch kein Hacker sein." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"Los tres aspectos que estructuran el análisis son las condiciones de la infraestructura y su sostenibilidad, los usos de internet, y los imaginarios desde/hacia otros mundos posibles, siguiendo la identificación de tres grupos de indicadores de unesco acerca de alfabetización digital y mediátic
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a. Se eligieron dos espacios de la Amazonía boliviana para conducir diálogos latin america in a glimpse: amazonía derechos digitales grupales y entrevistas individuales, cada uno situado en diferentes administraciones políticas regionales, con diferentes Áreas Protegidas y diferentes naciones indígenas, originarias, campesinas. En primer lugar, la localidad de Tumupasa en el municipio de San Buenaventura, en el norte del departamento de La Paz y, en segundo lugar, la ciudad de Cobija y dos de sus poblaciones aledañas: El Sena y Monte Sinaí, en el departamento de Pando [...] Los principales hallazgos se pueden resumir en tres ideas: 1. El acceso a internet en las regiones estudiadas es deficiente en infraestructura y calidad de servicio. El Estado tiene varias políticas, las que debe impulsar con mayor decisión para conducir un proceso de digitalización satisfactorio. Dotación y sostenibilidad del servicio eléctrico y de telecomunicaciones de calidad son acciones pendientes y urgentes. 2. La sociedad civil amazónica es activa en la gestión y presión sobre las autoridades para conseguir el servicio eléctrico, las radio bases y la sostenibilidad del servicio. A pesar de que esto es oneroso en tiempo y dinero, existen dirigencias que están destinados a estas gestiones. Esta fuerza organizativa, en coordinación con agentes estatales, puede ser un buen camino para la mejora del servicio de internet y sus usos educativos y productivos. 3. Los pueblos indígenas tienen amplias expectativas e imaginarios de internet como espacio para asegurar derechos de salud, educación, culturales, de autodeterminación y libertad de expresión. De esta manera, el acceso a internet con nociones de interculturalidad abre un nuevo reto para las políticas públicas ligadas a la tecnología." (Pages 4-5)
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"The Guidelines outline a set of duties, responsibilities and roles for States, digital platforms, intergovernmental organizations, civil society, media, academia, the technical community and other stakeholders to enable the environment where freedom of expression and information are in the core of
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digital platforms governance processes. The Guidelines were produced through a multi-stakeholder consultation that gathered more than 10,000 comments from 134 countries. These global-scale consultations fostered inclusive participation, ensuring a diversity of voices to be heard, including those from groups in situation of marginalization and vulnerability. Cultivating an Internet of Trust is a shared responsibility among all stakeholders. It calls upon us all to sustain an enabling environment for freedom of expression and the right to information." (Short summary)
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"This book details the project "Digital Citizenship Education for Democratic Participation" involving approximately 400 pre-school and primary school children, their families, teachers, and community members in a Lisbon locality. The research presented aims to answer the following question: To what
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extent can a local (and replicable) digital media literacy program empower preschool and primary-school-aged children to become active and effective citizens in the digital era? Through this book, the authors share the steps taken during the project, including the main difficulties faced and the solutions found to overcome them as well as the project’s sustainability." (Publisher description)
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"Bringing together 15 journalism scholars from around the world, this book explores and offers solutions to the common issues and inadequacies of reporting on sexual violence in the media. Presenting a range of conceptual, methodological, and empirical chapters, the book tackles issues related to, o
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r missing, from journalism in three parts: Part I acknowledges and surveys the role journalism plays in shining a light on social injustices and critiques research deficits in reporting on sexual violence; Part II employs cutting-edge research linked to an intersectional lens to amplify the voices that have been silenced in the media coverage; Part III explores how advocacy, campaign, and solutions journalism offers frameworks for ethical reporting on the shadow epidemic of sexual violence during these COVID-normal times." (Publisher description)
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"Cyber-deviance has been studied extensively over the past two decades, though owing to the elusive nature of cyberspace and the anonymity it affords its users, research has yet to paint a clear picture of the risk factors that predict online deviance. Early identification of these factors is critic
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al to the development of effective crime prevention strategies. To date, a comprehensive review of the longitudinal risk factors associated with juvenile cyber-deviance, in all its forms, has yet to be examined. This study aims to address this research gap by conducting an exploratory systematic literature review appraising current knowledge on the risk factors associated with juvenile cyber-deviance. Various databases were systematically searched for relevant English-language journal articles comprising longitudinal studies on young people aged 12–17 years. Eligible studies included an outcome measure of any distinct form of deviance perpetrated using digital devices and/or the Internet, potential risk and/or protective factors, and quantitative analyses. This search yielded 26,926 studies, of which 38 met the inclusion criteria. Most of the studies found examined the longitudinal risk factors associated with cyberbullying, followed by studies on sexting, cyber dating abuse, and general cyber-delinquency. Results indicated several longitudinal factors were consistently associated with cyber-deviance (e.g., gender, physical bullying, low self-control, child-rearing, parental attachment, and deviant peers). Physical bullying had the most consistent and pronounced association with cyber-deviance. Most studies had a relatively sound methodological quality; however, the small number of studies and their concentration on cyberbullying requires that the findings be interpreted with caution. Additional high-quality research is needed examining the longitudinal risk factors associated with all types of cyber-deviance to identify vulnerable young people and prioritise them for intervention prospectively." (Abstract)
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"Mixed Methods Perspectives on Communication and Social Media Research addresses the need for a discipline-cum-methodology-tailored book that navigates the current research spectrum of communication and social media ("CommSocMed"). It examines contemporary and relevant issues that intertwine the exp
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ansive spheres of CommSocMed. Authored by professionals with extensive academic and in-depth research and industry experience, the book highlights research-based themes that mirror qualitative and quantitative methodologies vis-à-vis socio-cultural, political, educational, and organisational issues and challenges. The first two sections present the mutually interwoven disciplines of CommSocMed where research works cover a comprehensive range of designs such as narrative analysis, case study, recombinant memetics, discourse analysis, visual semiotics, ethnography, content analysis, feminist theory, descriptive-survey, descriptive-correlational, model-building/testing, experimental, and mixed methods. The third section is a concluding segment which synthesises all the scholarly contributions in this volume." (Publisher description)
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"This study enabled countries in East Africa to produce national statistics on e-waste generated that are harmonized and comparable across countries because the same methods and tools have been used in the assessment. In addition, households and businesses surveys were piloted in Kenya and Burundi t
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o find out more on the possession rates of EEE and disposal routes of the e-waste generated within the countries. E-waste generated was calculated separately, using the e-waste generated tools. The two tools, the E-waste generated Tool on one end and the survey on the other, are complementary and provide useful insights on the e-waste generation and management status in the countries and can be used as a basis for policy making purposes, such as designing e-waste collection and management systems. The households and businesses surveys conducted in Kenya and in Burundi revealed that the higher possession rates in Kenya apply to mobile phones, flat display panel televisions and laptops. While in Burundi the products with the highest possession rates are mobile phones and personal care equipment. This indicates that high numbers of these items can be found in the e-waste stream and will be disposed of by the user. Overall, this study highlights that the amount of e-waste in the region is increasing rapidly while there is a lack of e-waste recycling infrastructure in the region. The rapid increase of e-waste generated represents a challenge where the only available formal e-waste recycling facility is located in Rwanda with an annual capacity of approximately 7 kt." (Conclusion)
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"This study examines to what extent Arab audiences are willing to support these strategies, and what factors influence their willingness to pay (WTP) for online news, using a survey of 530 adults. The study found most of the public is not willing to pay for online newspapers, but are willing to pay
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for entertainment services. Most of them are not subscribing to printed or online newspapers. They do not have a real intent to help the newspapers in their digital transformation. Most of the public did not experience the paywall yet. Age and income influence the likelihood of paying for online news and to a lesser extent, gender and education. Age and income were predictors for WTP for entertainment services. Age and education were predictors for using online sources." (Abstract)
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"As the world was distracted by the long, drawn out economic and social disruptions caused by the coronavirus, Beijing seized the “opportunity” offered by the crisis to accelerate its national digital strategy, titled unassumingly “Digital China.” With a decades-long personal tie to General
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Secretary Xi Jinping, the strategy is designed to lift China’s core competitiveness and societal efficiency through comprehensive digital transformation at the national level. Mostly unknown in the West, Digital China has profound implications for China’s developmental path, great power competition, and for the norms that will undergird the international system for decades to come. Beijing hopes to leverage a latecomer’s advantage to win what it sees as the new focal point of great power competition in the digital age: the race to design and build the world’s first nationally integrated system of rules, institutions, and technology to comprehensively manage big data and its intelligent application. This expresses itself in the Digital China strategy’s intense focus on the governance and control of data, a process Beijing calls the “new stage” in national informatization. Equally important, the Communist Party also now considers the “control of data” to be essential to its own survival, on par with the control of media, the military, and personnel. Rooted in Marxist theory, the Digital China strategy is both deeply transformative and deeply competitive. In effect, it is the world’s first digital grand strategy. Internally, the party’s deft control of data will create the world’s first “Smart Society,” demonstrating to China’s citizens and the world that capitalism has nothing to offer over socialism. Externally, a successful Digital China strategy will usher in an era of Chinese innovation that brings with it great power status across multiple strategic domains, civilian and military. Although a self-described monumental task, party leaders believe that Digital China is the strategy that will enable China to win the digital age." (Executive summary)
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"This book explores how digital authoritarianism operates in India, Pakistan, Turkey, Indonesia, and Malaysia, and how religion can be used to legitimize digital authoritarianism within democracies. In doing so, it explains how digital authoritarianism operates at various technological levels includ
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ing sub-network level, proxy level, and user level, and elaborates on how governments seek to control cyberspace and social media. In each of these states, governments, in an effort to prolong – or even make permanent – their rule, seek to eliminate freedom of expression on the internet, punish dissidents, and spread pro-state propaganda. At the same time, they instrumentalize religion to justify and legitimize digital authoritarianism. Governments in these five countries, to varying degrees and at times using different methods, censor the internet, but also use digital technology to generate public support for their policies, key political figures, and at times their worldview or ideology. They also, and again to varying degrees, use digital technology to demonize religious and ethnic minorities, opposition parties, and political dissidents." (Publisher description)
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