16 Nov 2025 Media Development 2025/4 Editorial

Civic space enables civil society to play a role in political, economic and social life. When civic freedoms shrink, people are deterred from expressing themselves freely, from protesting publicly, and begin to self-censor. Together these factors erode democratic accountability.

Earlier in 2025, the Civicus Monitor Watchlist, which identifies countries that the global civil rights watchdog believes are currently experiencing a rapid decline in civic freedoms, added the USA. The watchlist tracks developments in civic freedoms across 198 countries. Other countries previously flagged on the watchlist in recent years include Zimbabwe, Argentina, El Salvador and the United Arab Emirates.

Europe is faring no better. The Civic Space Report 2025 notes, “Europe is experiencing a dangerous rollback of civic freedoms, in a context where the promise of universal rights and democratic values, enshrined in the EU treaties, is being steadily eroded by interconnected economic, social, cultural, and political factors.”

Following the World Summit on the Information Society+20 gathering in Geneva (July 2025), communication rights activists want to take an even bolder structural approach to communication rights and digital justice that will tackle monopolies, inequities, and rights violations and embrace an inclusive, democratic, sustainable, and gender-transformative digital future.

The Global Digital Justice Forum – among others – is calling for a public, inclusive, and justice-oriented framework that redistributes the dividends of data and AI for the common good. Such a framework recognizes that:

• Universal access must be coupled with affordability, public value, and safeguards against shutdowns, discrimination, and exclusion.
• Digital divides are rooted in systemic exploitation and must be tackled through regulatory reforms, community-driven initiatives, and gender-transformative approaches.
• Monopolies in data and AI undermine democracy and development. Robust frameworks must protect labour rights, cultural commons, and smaller economic actors.
• Critical thinking, education, data exchanges, and AI for SDGs require strong public investment and governance.
• Global digital taxation and a dedicated financing mechanism are essential to support inclusive digital transformation in developing countries.
• AI must be anchored in digital sovereignty, and its environmental footprint (water, energy, emissions) must be addressed through rigorous impact assessments.
• Dedicated action lines, indicators, and systemic reforms are required to close gender gaps in digital ecosystems.

At the WSIS+20 High-Level Event (Geneva, Switzerland, 7-11 July 2025), WACC stated its views on the role of civil society in advancing people-centred, inclusive, development-oriented information societies. Looking back on two decades of actions aimed at creating an fairer information society, WACC noted that millions of people are still excluded – not just from digital access, but also from meaningful participation in the systems that shape information and knowledge, governance, and power.

Civil society, especially in the Global South, is being increasingly silenced – not only by the collapse of international aid and shrinking funding streams but also by political repression. Digital technologies and digital platforms dominated by the Global North are used to amplify some voices while marginalizing others.

At this critical juncture, there was great hope that WSIS+20 would formulate bold proposals to rethink understandings of development, to elevate national actors, and to increase accessibility, affordability, and accountability. WACC and its partners welcomed these calls. But none of this transformation will be possible without also confronting the colonial, racist, and sexist legacies embedded in the control of information and knowledge, and in the deployment of digital technologies – including Artificial General Intelligence.

WACC believes that communication must be recognized not merely as a tool for bringing about social progress, but as a right – central to human dignity, agency, and social justice. With that in mind, WACC supports calls for:

• Media regulation that genuinely serves the common good, not just market or state interests.
• Media ecosystems, where community-led voices are not just supported, but prioritized.
• Democratic data governance that respects people’s sovereignty over their own information.
• New public and non-profit ownership of digital infrastructure that upholds the public good.
• A fair global knowledge regime, where truth is not dictated by power.
• A realignment of the global digital economy and its financial architecture based on principles of fairness, inclusivity, and accountability.

To advance the cause of communication justice worldwide, we must listen to the voices of ordinary people and respond radically to their concerns. If the next 20 years are to deliver on the promise of just and inclusive digital societies, then communication rights must no longer be a footnote to governance – they must be foundational.