On Friday 15 November 2024, around 75 young people gathered at Parliament House to debate current political issues and talk in person with political representatives.
In four thematic workshops, young people had the opportunity to engage in depth with issues of social importance. ALIA responded to the Youth Convention’s invitation by chairing the workshop entitled ‘Social networks and influencers: am I living in a (filter) bubble?’, providing its expertise to guide and support young people in their thinking on this topical issue.
Several key proposals emerged from the discussions:
- Increase awareness among young people from an early age, as well as their parents, of the psychological and societal impact of content creators, whose influence shapes young people’s behaviour, aspirations and opinions, often in subtle but profound ways.
- Require digital platforms to guarantee better access to reliable information, to set up more effective reporting systems and to design their recommendation algorithms in such a way as to prioritise the general interest over purely commercial considerations.
- Combat digital dependency by limiting the addictive nature of online services.
- Strengthen the application of rules governing influencers by ensuring strict implementation of the obligation of transparency on commercial content, while making them aware of their legal responsibilities, their societal role and the influence they exert on their young audience.
- Modernise and strengthen in-service teacher training to better prepare teachers for the challenges of digital technology and provide them with the tools they need to teach ‘digital sciences’ effectively.
These recommendations were presented in a plenary session, giving participants a unique opportunity to get actively involved, present their concerns and put forward concrete proposals to political decision-makers with a view to enriching the public debate. The workshop was facilitated by Igor Loran (KJT/Bee Secure) and Samra Cindrak (ALIA).
The 2024 Youth Convention highlighted the importance of the active participation of young people in political discourse and decision-making processes.
