It is about time we reimagine what defines citizenship in the 21st century. Some philosophers have defined the concept of citizenship in logical terms. This may include freedom for all, enjoyment of privileges and the establishment of governing structures that will encourage and facilitate everyone’s involvement in their chosen communities.
The reorganisation of things regarding life within the era of the internet changes citizenship from civic duties to individual rights and privileges but as citizens of this “community” you do not only have the entitlements to enjoy, you also have a number of obligations to fulfil in order to be considered a good citizen. For some of us, that should be our business online.
To ensure that we are fulfilling this role effectively and in an organised manner, it is important we educate people, especially children, about appropriate behaviours and codes of conduct befitting citizens who occupy this new community, referred to as the new media.
By doing this, we ensure that the online community, which cannot be legislated but is expected to have some level of “well-behaved” citizen, has members who are contributing to the good of that community. Therefore, the work of the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) should not only be limited to the “offline” world but must be brought to bear on the online citizenry.
It is important that as good digital citizens, we are able to connect with our chosen communities to the best of our abilities. Unfortunately, it is becoming increasingly difficult for us to keep a balance and follow the tenets of a good digital citizen and fulfil our obligations towards the communities we belong.
Online citizenship requires some kind of “virtuous behaviour’ which should not be taken for granted but must be taught. From the beginning of virtual realities until now, if we have not seen anything at all, the disturbing images of children engaging in harmful online activities or another, tells you that it is important to give some kind of character education to online citizens regardless of their social background or status.
This is one of the reasons behind our call for the review of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) curriculum for schools in Ghana. The truth is, if it is not started early and targeted at the classrooms, it will be difficult to consider that after a lot of water has passed under the bridge.
The kind of citizenship under discussion requires participation from you and I. This is the “party-cipation” which costs close to nothing to get it underway. Aside the cost, this kind of participation has several options for the participants. What most of us forget to realise is this; not everyone is who they claim to be online.
Since participation online is open to all and available to anyone to join, coupled with the lack of the “virtuous behaviour”, participants are increasingly getting marred by all sorts of bad habits which could have been checked before people were introduced to the online space in the first place. I believe that although the digital world is participatory, it is up to the society to help citizens use their tools for participation effectively and wisely.
Over the years, there have been talks about an Internet Governance Forum (IGF), to rule and manage online affairs and conducts.
This forum came about because the digital citizenship is a humongous membership affair. It is therefore very crucial that there are attempts to hear and listen to the voices of all these large numbers of people as well as establish an ethics and engagement resource in this constantly changing space. This is not to say that citizenship in the context of the digital world is about “doing the right thing”, rather it is about occasionally re-examining the culture and the communities within the online sphere and making sure its standards are in line with the growing trend as well as our own standards as citizens.
For digital citizenship to be effective, it must be INCLUSIVE.
In order for digital citizenship to thrive, it is important it is looked at with the lenses of equity, lest we promote instability and revolution in the space. Under no circumstance should there be any form of disparity between the rich and the poor. I am excited about an initiative by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations’ specialised agency for information and communication technologies, called the Child Online Protection (COP) initiative.
This is to guarantee some kind of freedom for children and young people to learn and explore, a safe haven designed to ensure that systems are put in place to prevent some adults from taking advantage of children online. Our organisation, J Initiative, provides tools for effective digital citizenship but very few people actually take advantage of it.
Another aspect of digital citizenship is media ratings or assessment. The digital citizenship has a lot to do with media development and which form development takes. Therefore, digital citizenship can be said to be dependent more on how effective the media is in spreading new and useful ideas to promote development. News used to be accessed from traditional sources but now news is all over the place, summed up in 140 characters in the case of Twitter and the streaming of news items and live videos online.
However, how well those videos or ideas spread depend on the affordability, the reach or coverage platform and the relevance of the information to what the members of the society need. With this in mind, the question for any digital citizen should be this: How best can I ensure a “virtuous behaviour” while having a form of effective participation with our community culture in mind?
Having answered the above question, citizenship can be referred to as members of the online community. Community is said to be formed when a group of people gather with common goals. If that is the case, then citizenship is tied to a group and any member of the group must be seen to belong, therefore it is important you and I exhibit some level of citizenship based on the culture of the community.
The bigger question is: How well can a group define itself with regards to the digital space and in relation to its belief, customs and practices as well as which behaviours it reinforces or discourages? There is a lot of tribalism and hate speech going on within our various online communities in Ghana. How can you and I stand up to say let’s correct these wrongs without churning out more of the negatives?
The way to go is to respond to the call for digital citizenship, where we have our curriculum revolutionised with digital literacy and fluency skills. Is this what we are experiencing today?