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Call for promoting digital citizenship

  • Staff Correspondent
  • 15 March, 2023 12:00 AM
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Speakers at a programme laid stress on fostering digital citizenship, which will play an important role in enhancing social and cultural values in the digital age.

They were addressing a seminar titled ‘Lesson Learnt Seminar on Fostering Responsible Digital Citizenship’ organised by Dnet under the joint funding of the European Union (EU) and Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom’ at a hotel in the capital on Tuesday.

The success and learning aspects of the various capacity building, awareness and advisory initiatives taken under the ‘Foster Responsible Digital Citizenship to Promote Freedom of Expression in Bangladesh’ project and possible steps to be taken in the future were discussed at the seminar.

University students, teachers, law enforcement officials, domestic and foreign development sector officials, lawyers, government officials and media workers were present at the seminar and talked about the various possibilities and obstacles in using digital media in Bangladesh and advised on bringing positive changes in the society by using online media responsibly.

As panellists, Mahbooba Panna, Additional Secretary, Farid Hossain, Editor of UNB News and Dr Sadik Hasan, Associate Professor of Department of Public Administration at University of Dhaka, were present.

Fani Farmaki from European Union Delegation to Bangladesh and Naira Nizam from Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom also addressed the seminar.

Mahbooba Panna said, “Just as it was made compulsory for everyone to have a Covid certificate after the arrival of Covid, why we are not introducing digital citizenship certificate for everyone in the digital age?”

Expressing concern Farid Hossain said, “Our sense of etiquette comes from the kind of etiquette we practice in real life and we get this education from our family. Nowadays due to changes in family structure, proper etiquette is not being developed and the effect is visible through online media.”

Dr Sadik Hasan said, “Digital citizenship should be taken to the school level, but before that it should be decided what will go to them, who will take it, how it will be taken.”

In the seminar, Co-founder and Executive Director of Dnet M Shahadat Hossain said, “Through the FRDC project, many young people have been able to learn about exercising their rights safely in the digital world. Our goal is to ensure that youths must express themselves within the confines of the law.”