For a fair electronic model MSC 2024

In 2024, since the Electronic Fair campaign of SETEM Catalunya, we inaugurated the 9th edition of the Mobile Social Congress, which took place from February 27 to March 2 in Barcelona and partially online, coinciding, as every year, with the Mobile World Congress held annually in the city of Barcelona.

In this 9th edition, under the slogan “Hight Tech, Low Rights. What is the real cost of the technology we consume?”, we addressed the impacts of the industry from different fields, reflecting on what future we want: do we have to accept digitization at any price? What alternatives can we propose?

We analyzed all the links in the supply chain of electronic products, from the extraction of the minerals and raw materials necessary for the production of electronics (specifically in northern Argentina and R.D. Congo), through the poor working conditions in the production factories of these devices and the lack of transparency in their monitoring, to the management of their waste and the alternatives that exist. We also talked about the effects of digitization on the mental health of people who use digital technology and on digital justice, specifically about the role played by technological giants in the use of social networks, about verifiable credentials and artificial intelligence in terms of social and environmental justice.

A very varied program, whose activities were presented in formats for all audiences, from round tables and presentations, through the live broadcast of the Carne Cruda podcast, and children’s games for the whole family.

• Artivism action “the mine at home”: February 26th in front of the doors of the MWC in Barcelona.
• Live Carne Cruda podcast, on the social and ecological impact of our electronic devices, and the alternatives in the management of its waste: February 27 in Paral·lel 62, in Barcelona.
• Presentations and round tables on extractivism and digital justice: February 29 at the Calabria 66 space, in Barcelona.
• Round table on mental health and screens and their effects on childhood: March 2 at Escola de les Aigües, in Barcelona.

A program in collaboration with Som Connexió and Setem Catalunya from the Mobile Social Congress in Barcelona.

With the participation of Adriana Espinosa, head of Natural Resources of Amigos de la Tierra, Sergio Maydeu-Olivares, consultant in development and cooperation policies and international analyst, Mireia Roura, member of eReuse, Sara Domínguez, of SETEM Catalonia, Aleix Alsina, of Som Connexió and Blanca Callén co-founder and member of Restarters Bcn.

With the collaboration of Cori Crider, co-founder and co-director of Foxglove, Dimitri Kessler, from the Economic Rights Institute, Laura Fontana Sierra, from alterNativa Intercanvi amb Pobles Indígenes, Leandro Navarro, from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Siddharth Kara, writer and author of Cobalt Red and Sofía Trejo, BSC researcher.