Católica celebrates Safer Internet Day with SACRU
"Education can be pivotal to preparing individuals for the communication jungle that the Internet has evolved into" says Paulo Cardoso do Amaral, expert in digital innovation and professor at the Católica Lisbon School of Business and Economics, in the article written as part of Safer Internet Day, celebrated on 7 February.
The commemoration promoted by the European Commission aims to raise awareness for the safe and healthy use of the Internet. In this context and joining this initiative, the Strategic Alliance of Catholic Research Universities (SACRU) - alliance of which Católica is a founding member - has gathered several insights from experts on the topic.
The contributions, which include the opinion of Paulo Cardoso, address ethical issues posed by new technologies, driven by a world in transformation during the pandemic, where real experiences have moved to the virtual world.
The professor of the Universidade Católica recalls the advent of the World Wide Web in the mid-90s and the belief that the "freedom of communication would naturally foster the freedom of speech" and where "reduced asymmetries of information & knowledge seemed to push the world towards safety and prosperity". However, the specialist points out that nevertheless, it is on the internet that most dark beliefs originate, emphasising problematic examples such as the rise of negationists and the attack on the US Capitol.
According to Paulo Cardoso do Amaral, "the ongoing discussion on how to influence or control Big Tech’s platforms for supervising their own content is as tricky as dangerous" and so, for the professor, the big contribution comes in the sense of providing literacy to users so that they can discern what is right and wrong.
Read here the article with the reflections of Paulo Cardoso do Amaral (Universidade Católica Portuguesa) and his fellow experts Giuseppe Riva (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore), Ciro De Florio (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore), Giovanna Mascheroni (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore), Xavier Vilasis (Universitat Ramon Llull) and Gabriela Arriagada (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile).