As every year, the Council of Europe establishes an annual theme with the aim for the member states of the European Union to set common goals, share meaningful practices, measure achievements and define together a roadmap for the future. This year 2025 has been declared the European Year of Digital Citizenship.
What do we mean by citizenship?
Citizenship is a broad concept that has evolved over the centuries with the development and formation of new political schools of thought and systems of governance.
The origin of the concept of citizenship can be traced back to ancient Greece, a historical period notable for the emergence of close-knit, self-governing political communities marked by social differentiation in terms of gender, class and nationality. Citizenship was understood as a bond forged between citizen and state through participation in public affairs and the acquisition of duties and responsibilities. It was not a right that could be claimed or a status that could be conferred on anyone outside the established social ranks.
Today, we can understand citizenship as: (a) the possibility for citizens to participate in political life and to exercise a range of political, economic and social rights; and (b) the contribution of good citizens to social welfare.
Under the first definition, citizenship is attributed to those who keep themselves informed about political developments, engage in dialogue on the issues shaping the current landscape, actively participate in democratic processes and exercise their rights. One of the philosophers who analysed this conception of citizenship was Jean-Jacques Rousseau in his work ‘The Social Contract’. According to Rousseau, human beings are born naturally ‘good’; however, society corrupts them. For this reason, he considers it essential to establish a social contract whereby individuals give up their ‘liberty and natural rights’ in order to achieve ‘political liberty and civil rights’, which Rousseau sees as an evolution towards a higher form. In return, citizens must obey the laws made by a sovereign state resulting from the ‘general will’.
By the second definition, citizenship refers to people who demonstrate exemplary behaviour, ethical values, solidarity, critical thinking and understanding of the opinions, beliefs and customs of others. Socrates was one of the philosophers who deepened this conception of citizenship, moving it away from mere participation in political life to approach it as a source of social harmony. Through his system of dialogue and questioning, known as the ‘Socratic method’, he sought to encourage constant self-reflection and philosophical contemplation throughout life, what he called the ‘examined life’. In this way, the citizen, through his or her search for ‘virtue’, could act justly and well in society.
Applying the concept of citizenship to the digital world
Considering the two strands of citizenship, we can understand digital citizenship as: (a) the possibility for citizens to participate in the digital world with guarantees that their digital rights are respected; and (b) the contribution of good citizens to creating a safe and respectful digital environment.
Firstly, citizens must be able to participate in the digital environment and carry out administrative procedures online. In addition, the digital rights that every citizen inherently has, as an extension of fundamental rights, must be protected. Europe is making decisive progress on both aspects. As an example, last year the new Electronic Identification and Trust Services Regulation (eIDAS2) came into force, which is an update of the original 2014 Regulation to improve the common framework for electronic identification to enable citizens to make greater use of digital services in a secure way. Europe also has a European Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles to promote people-centred digitisation.
Secondly, the ease with which unverified information is disseminated, the use of pseudonymous user profiles and the normalisation of interactions with strangers have generated an online environment marked by mistrust. This has given rise to phenomena such as misinformation, cyberbullying and grooming (sexual harassment of minors), among others. Telefónica has various awareness-raising and training initiatives to promote responsible use and an environment of respect online. One example is Telefónica Spain’s Movimiento Azul (Blue Movement) initiative, a platform that offers users training content and key tips for responsible use of digital devices and services. Another example is Telefónica O2 Germany’s Wake Up! initiative, which offers various resources such as ‘edustories’ (short informative videos), workshops, informative events for families and educational material with the aim of promoting a digital environment in which respectful behaviour among users is a priority.
This year offers us an opportunity to reflect on our participation in the digital world, critically assessing our progress in digital citizenship.
