Is the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS+20) in July the last chance for communication justice?

The high-level event will review progress in the past 20 years toward the WSIS vision of a people-centered, inclusive, and development-oriented information society.

It may the final opportunity to establish a lasting and meaningful rights-based framework for global communications, Media Development editor Philip Lee writes, one that is effective and enables all people to be seen and heard.

“Despite inherent flaws, WSIS+20 still offers the possibility of ‘a new more just and efficient world information and communication order,’” Lee says in the second issue of WACC’s quarterly journal in 2025.

“Last Chance for Communication Justice?” offers reflections and recommendations on seizing this “rare opportunity to develop a global progressive digital vision and movement and to stake its claim to influence political decisions.”

Anchoring the 2/2025 issue are recommendations developed by WACC partners on implementing the Global Digital Compact (GDC) with a communication-for-all approach. As guiding concepts, they propose to democratize digital technology and give priority to public interest over private profits.

A statement from civil society, the private sector, and the technical community coordinated by the Association for Progressive Communications outlines calls to action for WSIS+20. It urges policymakers to continue the work of WSIS, renew the Internet Governance Forum’s mandate, and integrate the GDC into the WSIS process going forward.

In “Now is the time to take action for digital justice,” the Global Digital Justice Forum urges action to transform digital spaces from corporate and state commodities to digital commons that empower people and protect the planet.

A contribution by Sarah Macharia, WACC Gender and Communication program manager, takes stock of implementation of Section J, “Women and the Media,” of the UN Beijing Platform for Action adopted in 1995. She proposes revisions to update Section J for today, including promoting the communication rights of women and girls in and through technology.

An article by Lee takes a closer look at representations of violence in the media and their link to violence against women, in particular tech-facilitated violence. He notes the lack of evidence-based policy, accountability frameworks, and digital media literacy.

In further contributions, sociologist and communicator Irene León from Ecuador argues that as there can be no social project without a communication component, there can be no technological development like AI that does not result from a social project and its underlying power relations. Both can and must be changed, she says.

And Laura Salas of Witness LAC and Nicolás Tapia of Laboratorio Popular de Medios Libres present the Escuela Común (Common School), a best practice example of digital sovereignty for social justice. The WACC-supported project trains communities in Latin America to use secure digital tools for territorial defense and human rights advocacy.

Media Development 02/2025 is available to subscribers and WACC members. Articles in the issue include:

• Recommendations on the implementation of the Global Digital Compact, WACC
• Cross-community statement from civil society, the private sector and the technical community on WSIS, the IGF and the GDC, Association for Progressive Communications
• Now is the time to take action for digital justice, Global Digital Justice Forum
• Es el momento de actuar por la justicia digital, Foro Global de Justicia Digital
• Il est temps d’agir pour la justice numérique, Forum mondial pour la justice numérique
• Agora é hora de agir em prol da justiça digital, Fórum Global de Justiça Digital
• Women and the media: Stocktaking, realigning and reigniting Section J at Beijing+30 by Sarah Macharia
• Interdependencias comunicacionales y antipatriarcales por Irene León
• Mediated violence: What price accountability? by Philip Lee
• Escuela Común: Fortaleciendo el derecho a la comunicación con tecnologías libres por Laura Salas y Nicolás Tapia
• On the screen: Ecumenical Juries at Fribourg (Switzerland), Saarbrücken (Germany), and Berlin (Germany)