A number of disparate concepts have found a name: digital justice. But what is digital justice, and why should you care?
Digital justice’s nearest cousin is media justice. Digital justice’s basic idea is that communication is a human right, and that access, participation, common ownership and healthy communities are central principles.
Digital justice values diverse methods of communication, including other languages. Digital justice provides multiple layers of communications infrastructure, according to the Detroit group, in order to ensure every member of the community has access to emergency information.
Not unlike media justice, digital justice prioritizes the participation of people who have been traditionally excluded from and attacked by media and technology. Free and open tools are emphasized to foster maximum community access.
Finally, digital justice integrates media and technology into education in order to transform teaching and learning, to value multiple learning styles and to expand the process of learning beyond the classroom and across the life span, according to organizers.
This banner ensures many projects, from Indymedia efforts to open-source software to the digital divide, are included. It remains to be seen if digital justice can grow to the heights media justice has achieved, but the future looks bright.
