Digital Justice: Manifesto: A Call to Own Our Digital Future

The Just Net Coalition's manifesto argues that the 'intelligencification' of society has led to unprecedented economic and political control by a few global 'intelligence corporations' that monopolize data and cloud computing techno-structures. The document calls for a fundamental shift in power, asserting that data subjects must own their data individually and collectively and that key digital infrastructures should be governed as public utilities. It proposes 16 principles to achieve digital justice, including the decentralization of techno-structures, the breaking of global digital monopolies, and the establishment of public-interest bodies to develop digital standards. The manifesto emphasizes a 'local-to-global' governance architecture where national polities remain the anchors of self-determination and data is processed close to its point of origin.

• The current digital economy is characterized by 'intelligencification,' where global 'intelligence corporations' use cloud computing to monopolize data and control various sectors including health, education, transport, and commerce.
• Data is identified as a key economic resource that is currently harvested without permission by corporations; the manifesto argues that legal frameworks must be established to ensure individuals and communities own their data.
• The document advocates for the creation of 'common property regimes' for data and intelligence commons to prevent abuse, overuse, and pollution, treating them as 'common pool resources'.
• Workers and economic groups who contribute significant data to platforms, such as taxi drivers or farmers, should have primary economic rights and a role in the governance of those platforms.
• To increase user control, the manifesto proposes a 'local-to-global architecture' where data is processed close to its origin and cross-border data flows are decided by the national community of origin.
• Key digital infrastructures, such as search engines, social networks, and payment services, should be governed as public utilities regardless of whether they are provided by private businesses.
• The manifesto calls for the breakup of global digital monopolies through competition regimes that focus on cutting problematic links in data and intelligence value chains rather than just consumer welfare.
• Digital technical standards should be reclaimed from private corporations and developed exclusively by neutral, public-interest bodies under the oversight of people's representatives.

APA

Rowley, S. (2022). Digital Justice: Manifesto: A Call to Own Our Digital Future. World Association for Christian Communication. https://waccglobal.org/digital-justice-manifesto-a-call-to-own-our-digital-future-2/

Chicago

Rowley, Saskia. Digital Justice: Manifesto: A Call to Own Our Digital Future. World Association for Christian Communication, 2022. https://waccglobal.org/digital-justice-manifesto-a-call-to-own-our-digital-future-2/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Rowley |first1=Saskia |title=Digital Justice: Manifesto: A Call to Own Our Digital Future |publisher=World Association for Christian Communication |date=15 November 2022 |url=https://waccglobal.org/digital-justice-manifesto-a-call-to-own-our-digital-future-2/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{rowley2022digital, author = {Rowley, Saskia}, title = {{Digital Justice: Manifesto: A Call to Own Our Digital Future}}, publisher = {World Association for Christian Communication}, year = {2022}, month = nov, url = {https://waccglobal.org/digital-justice-manifesto-a-call-to-own-our-digital-future-2/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }