On May 13 and 14, the first international meeting for digital rights was held at the Llotja de Mar. Promoted by the Spanish Government and the Mobile World Capital Barcelona Foundation , the event brought together hundreds of people from various disciplines to understand and debate, in a clear and accessible way, the challenges of the digital environment. "We are organizing the first international meeting for digital rights within the framework of the Digital Rights Observatory. This is a collaborative project that brings together more than fifty state entities and aims to generate awareness, a position and a space for reflection around digital rights," explained Laia Corbella, director of institutional relations and communication at the Mobile World Capital Barcelona Foundation. Over the two days, numerous presentations, round tables and workshops were held around five thematic axes: identity and privacy, digital democracy, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and protection of minors. "One of the data that has emerged most strongly in this congress is that citizens are unaware of what the term 'digital rights' means, but they are not unaware of what the vulnerabilities are in the digital sphere, around, for example, disinformation or digital identity. We think that this approach of digital rights to citizens needs to be strengthened. In the end, they are the same fundamental rights that we all have, but in the digital world," said Corbella.
Yaël Eisenstat, Cory Doctorow, Carissa Véliz and Luisa Franco were some of the voices that filled the event with transformative reflections. The first international meeting for digital rights brought together speakers from the academic world, the business community and civil society. "We need a new digital framework, and therefore we need to generate all these conversations, all these reflections, and get citizens to participate in the construction of this new regulatory framework for the digital society", reflected Corbella. Therefore, the aim of the first international congress for digital rights was to create, energize and promote a space to move towards a fairer, safer and more responsible digital environment. "Barcelona hosts the Mobile World Congress every year, the main meeting point for the industry, where innovation and digital transformation are presented. Today, Barcelona has become an agora of thought, an agora of thought where we talk about rules, regulation, and we define what this digital society in which we are fully immersed should be like. "The city of Barcelona wants to capitalize on this discourse of digital humanism and ethical use of technology," added Corbella.