In what ways has the digital era changed the notion of public space?

The document examines the shift from physical to digital public spaces, highlighting the rise of 'surveillance capitalism' and 'data colonization' by tech giants and states. It defines 'democratic public communication spaces' as those that strengthen excluded voices and guarantee data sovereignty. The authors warn of 'voice poverty' and the erasure of linguistic diversity, noting that only 7% of the world's languages appear online. To combat these injustices, the paper recommends revitalizing public interest media, supporting community-managed infrastructure, and implementing comprehensive media literacy training.

• The authors define 'democratic public communication spaces' as both analogue and digital environments designed for considered dialogue that explicitly empower excluded voices, ensure citizens' ownership and control of their own data and knowledge, and promote social justice and the common good.
• The current digital landscape is characterized by 'surveillance capitalism' and 'data colonization,' where global tech giants (such as Google, Apple, Facebook, Tencent, and Weibo) and states extract human experience as a commodity for profit or political control, often operating with near-absolute impunity.
• State surveillance has reached extreme levels, exemplified by China's use of surveillance cameras—which were expected to reach 1 billion by the end of 2021—and the use of Pegasus spyware by at least 10 governments to target journalists and citizens.
• The digital era contributes to the loss of linguistic and cultural diversity; only 7% of the world's languages are present online, with English dominating 60.4% of the top 10 million websites.
• AI and algorithms are being used to implement social services in ways that reinforce inequality and lack transparency, such as the Compas AI program for prisoner sentencing in the US and biased automated welfare systems.
• The decline of public broadcasters (such as the BBC, CBC, ABC, RTE, and PBS) reduces the availability of balanced, non-sensationalist information, which is linked to higher social trust and lower levels of extremist political views.
• Digital spaces are often sites of systematic violence and harassment against women, girls, and minority groups, which creates a 'chilling effect' that limits their participation in the public sphere.

APA

Rowley, S. (2022). In what ways has the digital era changed the notion of public space? World Association for Christian Communication. https://waccglobal.org/in-what-ways-has-the-digital-era-changed-the-notion-of-public-space/

Chicago

Rowley, Saskia. In what ways has the digital era changed the notion of public space? World Association for Christian Communication, 2022. https://waccglobal.org/in-what-ways-has-the-digital-era-changed-the-notion-of-public-space/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Rowley |first1=Saskia |title=In what ways has the digital era changed the notion of public space? |publisher=World Association for Christian Communication |date=14 February 2022 |url=https://waccglobal.org/in-what-ways-has-the-digital-era-changed-the-notion-of-public-space/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rowley2022what, author = {Rowley, Saskia}, title = {{In what ways has the digital era changed the notion of public space?}}, institution = {World Association for Christian Communication}, year = {2022}, month = feb, url = {https://waccglobal.org/in-what-ways-has-the-digital-era-changed-the-notion-of-public-space/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }