THE Bishop of Oxford is urging everyone to play their part in making social media kinder.
The Rt Rev Dr Steven Croft’s comments came as the Church of England launched a Digital Charter.
The charter re-uses the Beatitudes from Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount as guidelines everyone can add their name to, in a bid to make social media a more positive place.
Since the Bishop posted his advice on Facebook last week it has been shared 100,000 times.
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Rt Rev Croft said: “Fifteen years ago, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube didn’t exist. Today, 67 per cent of people in the UK are active users of at least one of them and we now spend almost two hours each day on social media.
“Yet society is increasingly fearful of the risks of fake news and harmful content and distrustful of the very platforms that consume so much of our time.
“Advances in technology have brought sharp ethical dilemmas and deeper questions of human identity.
"There are important debates to be had about the exploitation of our personal data, along with the threats (and benefits) of AI.
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“These will take time and will require legislation, but we can also do something right now: let us each play our part in making social media kinder.”
For more visit oxford.anglican.org
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