Today WACC is launching Module 2 of Just Digital! The next level of this fun, self-paced e-course invites both individuals and groups to explore the ethical issues of our digital lives and take action for a more just online world.

The new Just Digital module “Taking Control, Making a Difference” covers thorny questions from digital divides and digital surveillance to the environmental costs of digital technologies.

In six lessons, aspiring digital justice advocates can unpack key terms, learn through games and from WACC regional experts, and find resources to go further in making life online safer and fairer for everyone.

Media literacy is first step towards digital justice

The launch of “Taking Control, Making a Difference” today is also the first day of the United Nations Global Media and Information Literacy Week that runs until 31 October.

Not a coincidence, says WACC Deputy General Secretary Sara Speicher.

“Being media literate is the first and most important step to address the problems that come with digital technology – from misinformation and deep fakes on social media to data centres adding to water crises.”

She adds that the second Just Digital module is the latest of WACC’s online learning resources that help individuals and communities around the world be informed users and advocates for digital justice. Exactly in the vein of UNESCO’s motto “Media Literacy for All.”

“We don’t have to understand how computers are coded,” Speicher stresses. “But how information gets presented to us – or not – on social media, why ‘the cloud’ is an ecological problem, how injustices such as racism and sexism are not only replicated but magnified online – these are things we as digital citizens do need to understand.”

She notes that the new Just Digital module follows the online course’s first level “Big Issues in Small Bytes” launched last year, which equips individuals and communities around the world to navigate wisely online.

Such accessible media literacy tools allow everyone to take control and make a difference, something that is crucial in our rapidly changing digital world, according to Speicher.

“The speed of technological development – not least of which is artificial intelligence – makes it imperative that we are not only knowledgeable users but active advocates for justice online as well as in the physical world.”