18 May 2026 Digital justice – the good news

I seem to spend a lot of my working days reading, writing, and speaking about the harms and risks of our increasing digitalization, especially artificial intelligence.

Granted, this all gets channelled into plans and actions to address harms and strengthen benefits: what individuals, institutions, networks can do to make an impact towards a rights-based communication and information ecosystem.

But there always seems to be another piece of “bad news,” such as the latest reports on the increasing electricity usage of data centres or the projection of Meta’s and other companies’ “smart glasses” – already known for recording women without consent –becoming the next viral tech product.

It’s like trying to walk up a sand dune. Progress is so slow when the ground keeps shifting underneath you.

Then, earlier this week, I had the opportunity of interviewing several young people for a summer job with WACC. One of our questions was, “How would you define digital justice?” We just wanted to know if they understood the concept.

But they not only understood it; they expressed it more clearly than I could. “Giving rights to everyone, so everyone benefits,” said one. “Making what we have now, into what it was meant to be,” said another.

Simple words of “good news” that are helping me to reassess my approach – to centre our advocacy on what we are for, not just what we are against.

In this, so many of our community partners have inspiring stories not just on providing and strengthening solutions to local needs but also demonstrating a new paradigm of “meaningful connectivity.”

In his article for the latest issue of WACC’s journal, Media Development, Gustaff Iskandar from our partner organisation Common Room describes how the Kasepuhan Ciptagelar Indigenous community in the Highlands of West Java, Indonesia, assembled partners and knowledge to build a technical infrastructure and manage an income-generating communication network based on their traditional values in this rural and remote region.

As Iskandar writes, “It demonstrates that the most effective way to connect the unconnected is to empower them to connect themselves.”

From webinars to informal discussions, I hear the good news of increasing calls and small but practical steps to move away from the platforms and devices of the Big Tech companies. Putting a high priority on data protection, environmental sustainability, and fair labour practices widens one’s choice for collaboration platforms, video conferencing, text editing, and more.

Media reports from the US to Australia are documenting significant resistance from communities to development plans for huge data centres, whose energy and water use, noise, and impact on natural areas are becoming more apparent.

People invested in their own communities are pushing back at processes and planning decisions that are not transparent or consultative, not to mention significantly negative for the well-being of the local community.

Following WACC’s symposium in April, “Our Common Future: Advocating Digital Rights and AI Accountability,” organized with ecumenical partners, there has been increased attention on action towards AI accountability particularly from church and ecumenical partners – a powerful network to advocate for a rights-based digital future.

One result was a joint submission by the World Council of Churches and the Future of Life Institute to the first United Nations Global Dialogue on AI Governance. The submission highlights priorities for urgent action including safe, secure, and trustworthy AI; coordination of AI governance approaches; protection and promotion of human rights; transparency, accountability, and human oversight; and equitable distribution of AI’s economic benefits.

WACC also joined a submission from the Global Digital Rights Coalition (GDRC) to the Global Dialogue setting out our call for a rights-based, inclusive dialogue and decision-making process.

All these steps are part of a bigger movement, to “give rights to everyone, so everyone benefits,” and to “make what we have now, into what it was meant to be.”

May we all nourish that positive vision – the good news to drive us into the common digital justice future we want to see.

Photo: Laszlo Mates/Shutterstock