It is crucial for Catholic communicators to be extra cautious in a climate where some media outlets have become places of toxicity, hate speech, and fake news, observes Pope Francis. In his message to the upcoming world congress of SIGNIS, the World Catholic Association for Communication, he expressed his hopes that the responsible use of social media and mass communications can help members of the human family understand each other and build peace in the world.
The congress is scheduled from August 15 to 18 in Seoul, South Korea, with the theme, Peace in the Digital World. While the papal message was directed to the delegates of this international event, it is equally relevant to all people engaged in social media. The pope has stressed the significant role of Catholic communicators in “media education, network-building, and countering lies and misinformation.”
With so many social media and messaging platforms available to them, people are able to engage with one another at any time, resulting in global connectivity. Disseminating information is essential for harnessing its power and social media has had many positive impacts. While acknowledging the advantages of digital and particularly social media, however, the Church must be vigilant not to allow people to fall victim to the great harm that such media are capable of.
This is not the first time Pope Francis has raised concerns about the amoral and often thoughtless use of mass communication. In his message for the World Day of Communications in 2018, the pope compared the irresponsible use of social media to the Bible story of the devil, who, disguised as a serpent, persuaded Eve to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree. Eve was fed with wrong information by Satan. In that message, the pope had called on journalists and social media users to shun and unmask manipulative “snake tactics” that foment division in the service of political and economic interests.
GWI [formerly GlobalWebIndex], an audience research company, reported in January 2022 that 58.4 per cent of the world’s population uses social media. The average daily usage is 2 hours and 27 minutes. Hong Kong has a much higher rate of social media usage.
Approximately 88 per cent of Hong Kong residents access social media, or some 6.68 million users. They spend an average of two hours a day on it. Hong Kong’s youth and young adults [18-40] prefer Instagram [86.1 per cent], WhatsApp [85.5 per cent], YouTube [77 per cent], Facebook/Meta [58 per cent], and WeChat [40 per cent] when it comes to social media.
Therefore, the threat is real. “The use of digital media, especially social media, has raised several serious ethical issues that call for wise and discerning judgment on the part of communicators and all those concerned with authenticity and the quality of human relationships,” the pope wrote in his message for the forthcoming Congress. Parish communities, parents, teachers, and youth leaders must educate the younger generation about the dangers of the irresponsible use of social media.
Not only in schools and Sunday schools but even at home, media literacy on how to access media platforms responsibly, and be credible content creators, must be part of family and classroom discussions and formation programmes. Priests, teachers and parents can no longer afford to be ignorant and noncommittal to discussing these issues with youth and children. As a healthy diet is imperative for good health, healthy media consumption is a must for building a peaceful society.
Jose, CMF
