WCC NEWS: Side event to World Summit on the Information Society spotlights why churches are involved in digital justice

Experts in digital justice, communicators, and media representatives gathered for a side event to the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)+20 on 8 July. The summit is being held in Geneva from 7-11 July. 09 July 2025 The side event was organized by the World Council of Churches and cohosted by the World Association for Christian Communication.  The community gathering and reception focused on local and global voices for digital justice.  The World Association for Christian Communication, in collaboration with the World Council of Churches, is leading ecumenical voices for a people-centred digital transformation at the summit. A 7-person World Association for Christian Communication delegation includes partners from the Philippines, Zimbabwe, and Costa Rica, who shared their local digital justice perspectives and the status of discussions at WSIS+20 which will be shaping digital governance for years to come. Philip Lee, World Association for Christian Communication general secretary, described some of his experiences at the summit—including pitching his organization’s membership to a robot.  Although he didn’t get very far with his endeavor, the encounter did, he said, “crystalize the leap” the world has made related to technology and AI.  The group also heard from Xian Guevara, deputy secretary general of the Computer Professionals Union, an organization of IT professionals and digital rights advocates in the Philippines. The union is a World Association of Christian Communication partner.  Guevara described some the union’s social media and digital marketing strategies for socio-civic organizations. "The problem there is, that a lot of people do not have access to to smart phones,” he said, adding that the government in the Philippines wants people to register their phones for security, ostensibly to protect them from scams. “The problem there lies in—what is the government doing with our data?" Patience Zirima, executive director of Gender and Media Connect in Zimbabwe, also a World Association for Christian Communication partner, described her work in promoting gender equality in the media, and in advancing policies that support the rights, safety, and representation of journalists, particularly women.  Kemly Camacho, cofounder and general coordinator of the Sulá Batsú Cooperative in Costa Rica, spoke about her biggest concerns related to digital justice, among them how local communities are vulnerable to technologically-driven manipulation and bias.  The speakers fielded questions from those gathered, including inquiries about CO2 emissions coming from the cooling of the data centers, as well as how much water the centers require for cooling.  Camacho agreed that water considerations are very important, and urged churches to advocate governments to take responsibility for where data centers are built.  Marianne Ejdersten, WCC director of communication, said she was grateful that the WCC could host the group. “As communicators standing for digital justice, there is clearly more work to do, and we have been able to learn from one another,” she said. “To be continued!”  See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 356 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches Chemin du Pommier 42 Kyoto Building Le Grand-Saconnex CH-1218 Switzerland