Abstract
By 2013, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) was actively promoting the idea of ‘digital citizenship’, via their Cybersmart initiative, as a necessary pillar of a digitally mediated society.
Some text in this chapter appeared in the chapter Third, A. and Collin, P. (2016). ‘Rethinking (Children’s and Young People’s) Citizenship Through Dialogues on Digital Practice’. In A. McCosker, S. Vivienne and A. Johns (eds.), Negotiating Digital Citizenship: Control, Contest and Culture, 41–60. London and New York: Rowman & Littlefield International.
It is reproduced here with permission of Rowman and Littlefield International Limited through PLSclear.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Cybersmart is a suite of online safety resources originally developed by the ACMA, and now housed by the Office of the eSafety Commissioner. See OeC (n.d.a).
- 2.
Here, we draw on Butler’s definition of performativity as the ‘reiterative power of discourse to produce the phenomena that it regulates and constrains’ (1993, 2). For Butler, performativity achieves naturalized authority and secures the subject’s complicity with normative ideals over time, through ‘repetition and… ritual’ (1990, xv). For Butler, then, ‘the critical task is… to affirm the local possibilities of intervention through participating in precisely those practices of repetition that constitute identity and, therefore, present the immanent possibility of contesting them’ (1990, 189, emphasis added).
- 3.
The methodology for the online discussion forum is elaborated later in this chapter. The authors wish to thank Jess Strider for her support in collecting and analysing the data from these online forum discussions, and assisting in writing up the results for presentation to the Technology and Wellbeing Roundtable. We also thank Ingrid Richardson for her contributions to the design of the online forum discussion, and for her comments on the report that was presented to the Roundtable.
- 4.
Chen and Walsh (2010) argue that the same may be said of citizens in general.
- 5.
One prominent exception to this is Australia’s ‘youth-driven movement against cyberbullying’, Project Rockit. See Project Rockit (n.d.).
- 6.
In 2017, under the leadership of the newly appointed, second Australian eSafety Commissioner, Ms. Julie Inman Grant, an amendment to the parliamentary act renamed the OCeC as the Office of the eSafety Commissioner (OeC) and expanded its remit beyond children to address the online safety of the general Australian population. Since then, the OeC has expanded its online safety support to, in particular, both senior Australians and women. However, since 2013, its digital citizenship offerings have remained substantively the same, with tweaks to the language used following a round of consultation with a diverse sample of the Australian public (see ACMA 2013).
- 7.
The Office of the eSafety Commissioner (OeC) recommends, ‘when you are online: respect the rights of others to participate and have an opinion; ask before tagging other people or posting photos; report offensive or illegal content; stand up and speak out about cyberbullying – protect your friends; don’t respond to hurtful or nasty comments – block and report cyberbullying; speak to your parents or trusted adult about upsetting online experiences; report threats of violence to the police (collect the evidence to show them)’ (OeC n.d.e).
- 8.
The OeC recommends, ‘[w]hen you are online: learn how new skills will help you explore the online world; recognise online risks and how to manage them; look out for suspicious emails and scams; use secure websites for financial and retail services; keep passwords secret, strong and unique; know how to report bullying behaviour on social media sites’ (OeC n.d.f).
- 9.
The research team thanks Ms. Cheryl Mangan for her support in recruiting for the study.
- 10.
Nevertheless, because of their age, only two of the participants had voted in the 2010 Australian federal elections. The research team did not collect information about participants’ engagement in Australian state elections.
- 11.
Another possible influence on this thinking is, for example, global citizenship education. See UNESCO (2019).
- 12.
Here, we use globalism to refer to the discursive dimensions of globalization.
- 13.
In Australia, the legal voting age is 18.
- 14.
In distinguishing between ‘every’ scene and ‘any’ scene, we take our inspiration from Thomas Keenan’s lectures, ‘Claiming Human Rights’, delivered for the Thinking Out Loud lecture series in 2016.
References
AlphaBeta. (2015). New Work Order: Ensuring Young Australians Have Skills and Experience for the Jobs of the Future, Not the Past. Melbourne: Foundation for Young Australians. Accessed 6 July 2019: http://www.fya.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/fya-future-of-work-report-final-lr.pdf
Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). (n.d.). Digital Citizens Guide. Accessed 28 January 2018: http://www.cybersmart.gov.au/digitalcitizens
Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). (2009). Developments in Internet Filtering Technologies and Other Measures for Promoting Online Safety: Second Annual Report to the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia. Accessed 1 June 2019: https://www.acma.gov.au/-/media/Research-and-Analysis/Information/pdf/developments_in_internet_filters_2ndreport-pdf.pdf?la=en
Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). (2010). ‘Citizens’ and the ACMA – Exploring the Concepts Within Australian Media and Communications Regulation. Occasional Paper. Melbourne: Australian Communications and Media Authority. Accessed 1 June 2019: https://www.acma.gov.au/theACMA/citizens-and-the-acma-exploring-the-concepts-within-communications-and-media-regulation
Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) (2013). Digital Citizens Guide: Community and Stakeholder Research. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia. Accessed 1 June 2019: https://www.acma.gov.au/theACMA/Library/researchacma/Research-reports/digital-citizens-guide-research
Anderson, B. (1983). Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. London: Verso.
Balibar, E. (2010). ‘Antinomies of Citizenship’. Journal of Romance Studies, 10(2), 1–20.
Balibar, E. (2015). Citizenship. Cambridge and Malden, MA: Polity.
Balnaves, M., Walsh, L., and Shoesmith, B. (2006). ‘E-Democracy: Media-Liminal Space in the Era of Age Compression.’ In J. Weiss, J. Nolan, J. Hunsinger and P. Trifonas (eds.), International Handbook of Virtual Learning Environments, 1007–23. Springer International Handbooks of Education, Vol. 14. Netherlands: Springer.
Banaji, S. and Buckingham, D. (2013). The Civic Web: Young People, the Internet and Civic Participation. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Bang, H. (2005). ‘Among Everyday Makers and Expert Citizens’. In J. Newman (ed.), Remaking Governance: Peoples, Politics and the Public Sphere. 159–78. Bristol: Policy Press.
Bennett, W. L. (2008). ‘Changing Citizenship in the Digital Age’. In W.L. Bennett (ed.) Civic Life Online: Learning How Digital Media Can Engage Youth, 1–24. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
boyd, d. (2008). ‘Why Youth (Heart) Social Network Sites: The Role of Networked Publics in Teenage Social Life’. In D. Buckingham (ed.), Youth, Identity and Digital Media, 119–42. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
boyd, d. (2014). It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Britnell, K. (n.d.). ‘Cybersmart Digital Citizenship’. Schools Catalogue Information Service. Accessed 31 May 2019: https://www.scisdata.com/connections/issue-93/cybersmart-digital-citizenship/
Butcher, S. (2011). ‘Assange Helped Our Police Catch Child Pornographers’. The Age. Accessed 31 May 2019: https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/assange-helped-our-police-catch-child-pornographers-20110211-1aqnl.html
Butler, J. (1990). Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York: Routledge.
Butler, J. (1993). Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of ‘Sex’. New York and London: Routledge.
Chen, P. (2013). Australian Politics in a Digital Age. Canberra: ANU E Press.
Chen, P. and Walsh, L. (2010). ‘E-Election 2007? Political Competition Online’. Australian Cultural History, 28(1), 47–54.
ChildNet International. (n.d.). ‘What is Digital Citizenship?: Digital Citizenship From ChildNet’s Point of View’. Accessed 31 May 2019: http://www.digizen.org/digicentral/digital-citizenship.aspx?video=s
Coleman, S. (2008). ‘Doing IT for Themselves: Management versus Autonomy in Youth e-Citizenship’. In W.L. Bennett (ed.), Civic Life Online: Learning How Digital Media Can Engage Youth, 189–206. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Coleman, S. and Blumler, J. G. (2009). The Internet and Democratic Citizenship: Theory, Practice and Policy. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press.
Collin, P. (2008). ‘The Internet, Youth Participation Policies, and the Development of Young People’s Political Identities in Australia’. Journal of Youth Studies, 11(5), 527–42.
Collin, P. (2015). Young Citizens and Political Participation in a Digital Society: Addressing the Democratic Disconnect. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Davies, T., Bhullar, S. and Dowty, T. (2011). ‘Rethinking Responses to Children and Young People’s Online Lives’. EU Kids Online 2 Final Conference – 22–23 September 2011. London: London School of Economics and Political Science. Accessed 1 July 2019: https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/273226/
de Certeau, M. (1988). The Practice of Everyday Life. S. Rendall (Trans.). Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
de Haan, J. (2009). Maximising Opportunities and Minimising Risks for Children Online. In S. Livingstone and L. Haddon (eds.), Kids Online: Opportunities and Risks for Children, 187–98. Bristol: Polity Press.
Delli Carpini, M. (2000). ‘Gen.Com: Youth, Civic Engagement and the New Information Environment’. Political Communication, 17, 341–49.
Drotner, K. (1994). ‘Ethnographic Enigmas: “The Everyday” in Recent Media Studies’. Cultural Studies, 8(2), 341–57.
Evans, K. (1995). ‘Competence and Citizenship: Towards a Complementary Model for Times of Critical Social Change’. British Journal of Education & Work, 8(2), 14–27.
Fitzgerald, R.M. and Graham, A. (2008). ‘Young People Big Voice: Reflections on the Participation of Children and Young People in a University Setting’. In ARACY and NSW CCYP, Involving Children and Young People in Research: A Compendium of Papers and Reflections from a Think Tank co-hosted by the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth and the NSW Commission for Children and Young People on 11 November 2008, 64–75. ACT: Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth; Sydney: NSW Commission for Children and Young People. Accessed 1 July 2019: https://www.aracy.org.au/publications-resources/command/download_file/id/108/filename/Involving_children_and_young_people_in_research.pdf
Habermas, J. (1989) [German (1962)]. The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society. T. Burger (Trans.). Cambridge MA: The MIT Press.
Hacker, K. L. and van Dijk, J. (eds.). (2000). Digital Democracy: Issues of Theory and Practice. London: Sage Publications.
Hackman, R. (2014). ‘Occupy the Minimum Wage: Will Young People Restore the Strength of Unions?’. The Guardian. Accessed 17 June 2019: https://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/jan/26/minimum-wage-young-people-unions-corporations
Harrell, E. (2010). ‘WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange’, Time Magazine. Accessed 6 July 2019: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2006496,00.html#ixzz1VKmYgowY
Harris, A. (2008). ‘Young Women, Late Modern Politics, and the Participatory Possibilities of Online Cultures’. Journal of Youth Studies, 11(5), 481–95.
Harris, A. (2011). ‘Citizenship Stories’. In N. Lesko and S. Talburt (eds.). Keywords in Youth Studies: Tracing Affects, Movements, Knowledges, 143–53. New York and Oxon: Routledge.
Harris, A. (2013). Young People and Everyday Multiculturalism. New York: Routledge.
Harris, A. and Wyn, J. (2009). ‘Young People’s Politics and the Micro-Territories of the Local’. Australian Journal of Political Science, 44(2), 327–44.
Harris, A., Wyn, J. and Younes, S. (2007). ‘Young People and Citizenship: An Everyday Perspective’. Youth Studies Australia, 6(3), 19–27.
Harris, A., Wyn, J. and Younes, S. (2010). ‘Beyond Apathetic or Activist Youth: ‘Ordinary’ Young People and Contemporary Forms of Participation’. Young, 18, 9–32.
Hartley, J. (2010). ‘Silly Citizenship’. Critical Discourse Studies, 7(4), 233–48.
Isin, E.F. (2008). ‘Theorizing Acts of Citizenship’. In E.F. Isin and G.M. Nielsen (eds.). Acts of Citizenship, 15–43. London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Isin, E. F. and Ruppert, E. (2015). Being Digital Citizens. London and New York: Rowman & Littlefield International.
Ito, M., Davidson, C., Jenkins, H., Lee, C., Eisenberg, M., and Weiss, J. (2008). ‘Foreword’. In D. Buckingham (ed.), Youth, Identity, Digital Media, vii–ix. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Kalyvas, A. (2014). ‘Solonian Citizenship: Democracy, Conflict, Participation’. In Kitromilides, P. M. (ed.) Athenian Legacies: European Debates on Citizenship. Florence: Leo S. Olschki Editore.
Kelly, P. (2001). ‘Youth at Risk: Processes of Individualisation and Responsibilisation in the Risk Society’. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 22, 23–33.
l’Anson, J. (2013). ‘Beyond the Child’s Voice: Towards an Ethics for Participation Rights’. Global Studies of Childhood, 3(2), 104–14.
Lefebvre, H. (2000). Everyday Life in the Modern World. S. Rabinovitch (Trans.). London: Athlone.
Lepofsky, J. and Fraser, J. C. (2003). ‘Building Community Citizens: Claiming the Right to Place-making in the City’. Urban Studies, 40, 127–42.
Manne, R. (2011). ‘The Cypherpunk Revolutionary: Julian Assange’. In Koval, R. (ed.) The Best Australian Essays 2011, 40–83. Melbourne, Australia: Black Inc.
Marsh, D., O’Toole, T., and Jones, S. (2007). Young People and Politics in the UK: Apathy or Alienation?. Basingstoke: Palgrave.
Martin, A. (2012). Political Participation Among the Young in Australia. Canberra: Australian Electoral Commission.
Manson, J. (2011). ‘Occupy Wall Street: A New Generation, a New Kind of Leadership’. National Catholic Reporter. Accessed 17 June 2019: https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/grace-margins/occupy-wall-street-new-generation-new-kind-leadership
Montgomery, K. C. (2008). ‘Youth and Digital Democracy: Intersections of Practice, Policy, and the Marketplace’. In W.L. Bennett (ed.) Civic Life Online: Learning How Digital Media Can Engage Youth. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Morrison, I. (2008). ‘Act 11: Acts of Commemoration’. In E.F Isin and G.M. Nielsen (eds.), Acts of Citizenship, 289–91. London: Zed Books.
Mossberger, K. (2008). ‘Toward Digital Citizenship: Addressing Inequality in the Information Age’. In A. Chadwick and P.N. Howard (eds.). Routledge Handbook of Internet Politics. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
Mossberger, K., Tolbert, C. J. and McNeal, R. S. (2008). Digital Citizenship: The Internet, Society and Participation. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Mouffe, C. (1993). The Return of the Political. London: Verso.
Office of the eSafety Commissioner (OeC). (n.d.a). ‘Cybersmart Access’. Accessed 6 July 2019: https://www.esafety.gov.au/education-resources/classroom-resources/cybersmart-access
Office of the eSafety Commissioner (OeC). (n.d.b). ‘Digital Citizenship’. Accessed 1 June 2019: https://www.esafety.gov.au/education-resources/classroom-resources/digital-citizenship
Office of the eSafety Commissioner (OeC). (n.d.c). ‘Digital Citizenship: Choose Consciously’. Accessed 1 June 2019: https://esafety.gov.au/education-resources/classroom-resources/digital-citizenship/choose
Office of the eSafety Commissioner (OeC). (n.d.d). ‘Digital Citizenship: Classroom Resources: Lesson Plans (Upper Secondary)’. Accessed 1 June 2019: https://www.esafety.gov.au/education-resources/classroom-resources/digital-citizenship/classroom-resources
Office of the eSafety Commissioner (OeC). (n.d.e). ‘Digital Citizenship: Engage Positively’. Accessed 1 June 2019: https://esafety.gov.au/education-resources/classroom-resources/digital-citizenship/engage
Office of the eSafety Commissioner (OeC). (n.d.f). ‘Digital Citizenship: Know Your Online World’. Accessed 1 June 2019: https://esafety.gov.au/education-resources/classroom-resources/digital-citizenship/know
Office of the eSafety Commissioner (OeC). (n.d.g). ‘Role of the Office’. Accessed 1 June 2019: https://www.esafety.gov.au/about-the-office/role-of-the-office
Palfrey, J. and Gasser, U. (2011). ‘Reclaiming an Awkward Term: What We Might Learn From “Digital Natives”’. I/S: A Journal of Law and Policy for the Information Society, 7(1), 33–55.
Papacharissi, Z. (2009). ‘The Virtual Geographies of Social Networks: A Comparative Analysis of Facebook, LinkedIn and ASmallWorld’. New Media & Society, 11(1–2), 199–220.
Party X. (2015). ‘Party X’. Accessed 28 July 2015: http://partyx.ca/
Pfanner, E. (2004). ‘Cellphones May Have Tipped the Scales in Spanish Election: Text-Messaging the Revolution’. New York Times. Accessed 31 May 2019: https://mobile.nytimes.com/2004/03/23/business/worldbusiness/cellphones-may-have-tipped-the-scales-in-spanish.html
Prensky, M. (2001). ‘Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants Part 1’. On the Horizon, 9(5), 1–6.
Project Rockit. (n.d.). ‘Project Rockit’. Accessed 31 May 2019: http://projectrockit.com.au
Ribble, M.S., Bailey, G.D. and Ross, T.W. (2004). ‘Digital Citizenship: Addressing Appropriate Technology Behaviour’. Learning & Leading with Technology, 32(1), 7–11.
Rolfe, M. (2016). The Reinvention of Populist Rhetoric in the Digital Age: Insiders and Outsiders in Democratic Politics. New York: Palgrave Macmillan US.
Shresthova, S. (2013). ‘Bollywood Dance as Political Participation? On Flash Mobs, New Media, and Political Potential’. Convergence, 19(3), 311–17.
Staeheli, L. A., Ehrkamp, P., Leitner, H. and Nagel, C. R. (2012). ‘Dreaming the Ordinary: Daily Life and the Complex Geographies of Citizenship’. Progress in Human Geography, 36, 628–44.
Third, A. (2014). Gender and the Political: Deconstructing the Female Terrorist. New York and London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Third, A., Bellerose, D., Diniz De Oliveira, J., Lala, G. and Theakstone, G. (2017). Young and Online: Children’s Perspectives on Life in the Digital Age (The State of the World’s Children 2017 Companion Report). Sydney: Western Sydney University. Accessed 23 May 2019: https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/1334805/Young_and_Online_Report.pdf
Third, A. and Collin, P. (2016). ‘Rethinking (Children’s and Young People’s) Citizenship Through Dialogues on Digital Practice’. In A. McCosker, S. Vivienne and A. Johns (eds.), Negotiating Digital Citizenship: Control, Contest and Culture, 41–60. London and New York: Rowman & Littlefield International.
Third, A., Forrest-Lawrence, P, and Collier, A. (2014). Addressing the Cybersafety Challenge: From Risk to Resilience. Melbourne: Telstra Corporation. Accessed 6 July 2019: http://www.telstra.com.au/uberprod/groups/webcontent/@corporate/@aboutus/documents/document/uberstaging_279130.pdf
Third, A. and Richardson, I. (2009). Connecting, Supporting and Empowering Young People Living with Chronic Illness and Disability: The Livewire Online Community. Perth: Centre for Everyday Life, Report prepared for the Starlight Children’s Foundation. Accessed 6 July 2019: https://starlight.org.au/sites/all/tmp/files/200-programs/Livewire-Online-Community-Research-Project.pdf
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) (2019). ‘Global Citizenship Education’. Accessed 6 July 2019: https://en.unesco.org/themes/gced
Vromen, A. (2003). ‘“People Try to Put Us Down.” Participatory Citizenship of “Generation X”’. Australian Journal of Political Science, 38(1), 79–99.
Vromen, A. (2017). Digital Citizenship and Political Engagement: The Challenge from Online Campaigning and Advocacy Organisations. London: Palgrave Macmillan
Vromen, A. and Collin, P. (2010). ‘Everyday Youth Participation? Contrasting Views from Australian Policymakers and Young People’. Young: Nordic Journal of Youth Research, 18(1), 97–112.
Vromen, A., Loader, B., Xenos, M., Bailo, F. (2016). ‘Everyday Making Through Facebook Engagement: Young Citizens’ Political Interactions in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States’. Political Studies, 64(3), 513–33.
Vromen A., Xenos, M.A., and Loader, B. (2015). ‘Young People, Social Media and Connective Action: From Organisational Maintenance to Everyday Political Talk’. Journal of Youth Studies, 18(1), 80–100.
Walsh, L. and Black, R. (2011). In Their Own Hands: Can Young People Change Australia? Melbourne: ACER Press.
Weintraub, H. (2015). ‘Youth Must Fight for 15’. The Huffington Post. Accessed 2 July 2018: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/hannah-weintraub/youth-must-fight-for-15_b_6981056.html
Wood, B.E. (2014). ‘Researching the Everyday: Young People’s Experiences and Expressions of Citizenship’. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 27(2), 214–232.
Wright, A. (2013). ‘Digital Citizenship the Australian Way’. Family Online Safety Institute, Good Digital Parenting. Accessed 31 May 2019: https://www.fosi.org/good-digital-parenting/digital-citizenship-australian-way/
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Third, A., Collin, P., Walsh, L., Black, R. (2019). Digital Citizenship. In: Young People in Digital Society. Studies in Childhood and Youth. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57369-8_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57369-8_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-57368-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-57369-8
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)