Insights into Digital Citizenship in Ecuador

Digital citizenship is a manifestation of people’s responsible and ethical practices in the digital world and involves the knowledge and practice of a set of skills and values that promote the safe, effective, and positive use of technology. In the digital age, digital citizenship has become a vitally important topic for understanding and promoting civic participation in contemporary society. This research seeks to identify citizens’ perceptions of the knowledge and practices of digital citizenship in Ecuador; because in 2022, Ecuador updated and issued public policies and laws that promoted the rights to communication, protection of personal data, and open government through which digital citizenship is promoted. The research questions are: Do citizens know and exercise digital citizenship? How to promote digital citizenship? Do citizens show dissipation to increase digital citizenship practices? The research is qualitative and descriptive in scope. The research instruments used were semi-structured interviews and a survey. It is concluded that, in Ecuador, there is openness to know and expand the exercise of digital citizenship. The importance of strengthening competencies through formal and informal mechanisms of media and information literacy is highly valued because people have the competencies to use ICTs in social interaction and with institutions to get involved in public management or civic participation.