The Digital MANiFESTO

Starting up the research and conversations needed for a new digital literacy initiative

Digital literacy (aka information literacy or media literacy) is an essential competency for everyone in the 21st century. Canadians have always valued truth, transparency, knowledge, collaboration and communication. Education and awareness campaigns are helping Canadians learn to be critical and well-informed consumers of information, but information publishers can also play a crucial role by promoting digital citizenship and facilitating information and media literacy. We believe that communications professionals in industries, government, nonprofits and the media can help set higher standards for digital literacy in Canada and worldwide by adopting the following five imperatives:

1 Give Technology a Human Voice

Ensure that digital information always speaks with a human voice so it is accessible to all.

2 Uphold Digital Citizenship

Support dialogue and learning about digital literacy so individuals, groups and communities may understand their rights and responsibilities in information sharing.

3 Dethrone Social Media

Design social content to serve people by giving people and communities advanced tools to self-govern their own social media spheres and have more control over the dynamics.

4 Live the Questions Now

Foster critical thinking by providing accurate, reliable and well-crafted information and by helping people know how to ask questions and which questions need to be asked.

5 Authenticate & Orientate

Include human-readable, verifiable context in all digital information including author(s), date published, date modified, geolocation (if related), intended audience(s) and sources.

Author: Garth von Buchholz, 2020