Peace, truth and the digital public sphere: A Wesleyan postcolonial theology

Abstract

Digital platforms shape public meaning in the Philippines, where social media is deeply embedded in political, cultural and religious life and where struggles over truth and visibility are reflected in postcolonial conditions. This study develops a theological account of peace, truth and moral speech for digital public life in response to limited Wesleyan and postcolonial theological engagement with online misinformation. The study is situated in the Philippine digital public sphere as a context for theological reflection on how public judgement is formed through digitally mediated communication. This study uses a constructive public theology research design. The study combines analysis of digital misinformation and postcolonial theory with theological interpretation of Isaiah 32:17, John 8:32 and James 3, and engagement with John Wesley’s writings on holiness and social responsibility. The study finds that misinformation causes moral harm by distorting truth, weakening shared judgement and amplifying unequal voices. These processes are described as digital colonisation, in which digital platforms and organised influence reshape control over public narratives and damage the conditions needed for peace. The study concludes that churches require a formation-centred approach that treats digital participation as a moral practice rather than a technical activity, guiding Christians towards truthful speech, responsible communication and peacebuilding through digital holiness.
Contribution: This article interprets misinformation in the Philippine digital public sphere as digital colonisation, develops a biblical–postcolonial–Wesleyan account of peace, truth and moral speech and proposes digital holiness – structured as practices of seeing, discerning, speaking, building, protecting and transforming – as a framework for church formation and peacebuilding in postcolonial digital contexts.