“Civic space enables civil society to play a role in political, economic and social life,” Media Development editor Philip Lee writes in “Integrity and Trust Underpin the Digital Sphere,” the latest issue of WACC’s journal.

It follows then that the voices of ordinary people must be heard in decision-making spaces and shape policy to bring about communication justice throughout the world.

Contributors to the 4/2025 issue explore a “bolder structural approach to…tackle monopolies, inequities, and rights” as the review of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS+20) nears its conclusion.  

“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,” Lee says.

Anna Oosterlinck from ARTICLE 19 considers the interface of public interest journalism, digital technologies, and global governance. “Ultimately, we need to achieve a model where respect for human rights, equality, the rule of law and accountability comes first.”

This means seeing the internet as a public resource – one that must be accessible and above all multilingual, says Theresa Swinehart from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

Will the international internet community choose ethics and inclusion or allow internet governance to be bent to the corporate-shaped will of the U.S. government, asks WACC Europe president Ralf Peter Reimann, Evangelical Church in the Rhineland (Germany), reflecting on the Internet Governance Forum 2025.

The thematic focus concludes with contextual views on digital justice and rights from India by Aniruddha Jena (Indian Institute of Management Kashipur) and Sriyanka Sahoo (Utkal University), and the Middle East by Kamal Sedra (WACC Middle East and North Africa Executive Committee); on plurality and inclusive communication by José Luis Aguirre Alvis (Universidad Católica Boliviana “San Pablo,” La Paz, Bolivia); and on the right to freedom from misinformation by Erick R. Torrico Villanueva (Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, La Paz, Bolivia).

Media Development 4/2025 is available to subscribers and WACC members. Articles in the issue include:

• Independent media, the WSIS+20 review process, and Public Digital Infrastructure by Anna Oosterlinck
• Communication, language, and the future of the Internet by Theresa Swinehart
• Observations from the Internet Governance Forum 2025 by Ralf Peter Reimann
• Digital justice after WSIS+20: What the Global Digital Compact means for India’s marginalised by Aniruddha Jena and Sriyanka Sahoo
• Building digital resilience and rights in the Middle East by Kamal Sedra
• El reto permanente por la pluralidad e inclusión de voces por José Luis Aguirre Alvis
• El derecho a la no desinformación: Una propuesta desde Bolivia por Erick R. Torrico Villanueva
• On the screen: Ecumenical Juries at Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic), Locarno (Switzerland), Warsaw (Poland), and Venice (Italy)