Digital inequality and digital justice are pressing issues in today's world. This work examines the socio-philosophical aspects of these problems and proposes measures to achieve digital justice. The authors draw attention to the fact that digital inequality can manifest itself in various forms, such as access to information, technology and resources, as well as opportunities to participate in the digital economy. This can lead to increased social inequalities and limited opportunities for the development (...) of individuals and society as a whole. To achieve digital justice, the authors propose a number of measures, such as improving access to digital technologies and resources, ensuring equal opportunities to participate in the digital economy, and protecting consumer rights and data privacy. They also draw attention to the need to promote digital literacy and education so that people can make effective use of digital technologies and resources. The authors also examine digital inequality and digital justice in the context of monopoly and free speech. They point out that some companies that declare their social responsibility may use their monopolistic position in the market to limit freedom of speech and access to information. In this context, the authors suggest strengthening the role of the state in regulating the digital economy and protecting consumer rights. In conclusion, the research is a valuable contribution to the field of research on digital inequality and digital justice. It emphasizes the need to take into account the socio-philosophical dimensions of these issues and suggests measures to achieve digital justice. It also draws attention to the importance of cultural and historical sensitivity in the development of digital policies and resources. (shrink)

Purpose This paper aims to look at shifts in internet-related content and services economies, from audience labour economies to Web 2.0 user-generated content, and the emerging model of user computing power utilisation, powered by blockchain technologies. The authors look at and test three models of user computing power utilisation based on distributed computing two of which use cryptocurrency mining through distributed pool mining techniques, while the third is based on distributed computing of calculations for scientific research. The three models promise (...) benefits to their users, which the authors discuss throughout the paper, studying how they interplay with the three levels of the digital divide. Design/methodology/approach The goal of this article is twofold as follows: first to discuss how using the mining hype may reduce digital inequalities, and secondly to demonstrate how these services offer a new business model based on value rewarding in exchange for computational power, which would allow more online opportunities for people, and thus reduce digital inequalities. Finally, this contribution discusses and proposes a method for a fair revenue model for content and online service providers that uses user device computing resources or computational power, rather than their data and attention. The method is represented by a model that allows for consensual use of user computing resources in exchange for accessing content and using software tools and services, acting essentially as an alternative online business model. Findings Allowing users to convert their devices’ computational power into value, whether through access to services or content or receiving cryptocurrency and payments in return for providing services or content or direct computational powers, contributes to bridging digital divides, even at fairly small levels. Secondly, the advent of blockchain technologies is shifting power relations between end-users and content developers and service providers and is a necessity for the decentralisation of internet and internet services. Originality/value The article studies the effect of services that rely on distributed computing and mining on digital inequalities, by looking at three different case studies – Coinhive, Gridcoin and Cryptotab – that promise to provide value in return for using computing resources. The article discusses how these services may reduce digital inequalities by affecting the three levels of the digital divide, namely, access to information and communication technologies, skills and motivations in using ICTs and capacities in using ICTs to get concrete benefits. (shrink)

In this research we focus on ethnic minorities, one of the underserved groups in Europe. In particular, we address the internet use of Turkish ethnic children, aged 9 to 16, in several EU countries. We examine the extent to which they can be considered digitally disadvantaged when compared to the majority population in those countries. We also compare Turkish children living in Turkey to those in the diaspora as well as to the majority children living in those same European countries. (...) The data used for this analysis is part of the EU Kids Online research. Of the three groups of teenagers examined, those in the Turkish diaspora take a position in between their native European peers, who are the most fervent surfers on the internet, and the Turkish children living in Turkey, who use the internet least often. Generally speaking that is also true for online competencies and online activities. As far as exposure to online risks is concerned, European majority children are more familiar than the two other groups with receiving sex-related images and messages and with face-to-face meetings with online contacts. By contrast, children in the Turkish diaspora are relatively more familiar with cyberbullying. (shrink)

Purpose Telemedicine has been advancing for decades and is more indispensable than ever in this unprecedented time of the COVID-19 pandemic. As shown, eHealth appears to be effective for routine management of chronic conditions that require extensive and repeated interactions with healthcare professionals, as well as the monitoring of symptoms and diagnostics. Yet much needs to be done to alleviate digital inequalities that stand in the way of making the benefits of eHealth accessible to all. The purpose of this (...) paper is to explore the recent shift in healthcare delivery in response to the COVID-19 pandemic towards telemedicine in healthcare delivery and show how this rapid shift is leaving behind those without digital resources and exacerbating inequalities along many axes. Design/methodology/approach Because the digitally disadvantaged are less likely to use eHealth services, they bear greater risks during the pandemic to meet ongoing medical care needs. This holds true for both medical conditions necessitating lifelong care and conditions of particular urgency such as pregnancy. For this reason, the authors examine two case studies that exemplify the implications of differential access to eHealth: the case of chronic care diseases such as diabetes requiring ongoing care and the case of time-sensitive health conditions such as pregnancy that may be compromised by gaps in continuous care. Findings Not only are the digitally disadvantaged more likely to belong to populations experiencing greater risk – including age and economic class – but they are less likely to use eHealth services and thereby bear greater risks during the pandemic to meet ongoing medical care needs during the pandemic. Social implications At the time of writing, almost 20% of Americans have been unable to obtain medical prescriptions or needed medical care unrelated to the virus. In light of the potential of telemedicine, this does not need to be the case. These social inequalities take on particular significance in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Originality/value In light of the COVID-19 virus, ongoing medical care requires exposure to risks that can be successfully managed by digital communications and eHealth advances. However, the benefits of eHealth are far less likely to accrue to the digitally disadvantaged. (shrink)

Purpose This conceptual contribution is based on the observation that digital inequalities literature has not sufficiently considered digital footprints as an important social differentiator. The purpose of the paper is to inspire current digital inequality frameworks to include this new dimension. Design/methodology/approach Literature on digital inequalities is combined with research on privacy, big data and algorithms. The focus on current findings from an interdisciplinary point of view allows for a synthesis of different perspectives and conceptual (...) development of digital footprints as a new dimension of digital inequality. Findings Digital footprints originate from active content creation, passive participation and platform-generated data. The literature review shows how different social groups may experience systematic advantages or disadvantages based on their digital footprints. A special emphasis should be on those at the margins, for example, users of low socioeconomic background. Originality/value By combining largely independent research fields, the contribution opens new avenues for studying digital inequalities, including innovative methodologies to do so. (shrink)

In the popular and academic literature on the problems of the so-called attention economy, the cost of attention grabbing, sustaining, and immersing digital medias has been addressed as if it touched all people equally. In this paper I ask whether everyone has the same resources to respond to the recent changes in their stimulus environments caused by the attention economy. I argue that there are not only differences but disparities between people in their responses to the recent, significant increase (...) in the degree and persuasiveness of digital distraction. I point toward individual variance in an agent’s top-down and bottom-up attention regulation, and to further inequality-exacerbating variance in active participation on the internet and in regulating reward-seeking behaviors on the internet. Individual differences in these areas amount to disparities because they have been found to be connected to socioeconomic background factors. I argue that disparities in responding to digital distraction threaten fair equality of opportunity when it comes to digital distraction in the classroom and that they may lead to an unequal contribution of achievements that require complex cognition by people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. (shrink)

This study examines the relationship among digital citizenship, digital inequality, education, and electoral engagement in the unprecedented 2008 U.S. presidential election. The 2008 presidential election was unique providing an African American candidate, a severe financial crisis, and an unusually unpopular sitting president. In this regard, the presidential election provides an unparalleled political moment to examine the impact of digital citizenship on electoral engagement. Digital citizenship represents the capacity to participate in society online through frequent Internet (...) use leading to economic, civic, and political outcomes. Recent research on digital inequality questions the relationship between frequent Internet use and skill development. In addition, education is considered the “universal solvent” that makes citizens more active in political affairs. Accordingly, electoral engagement, which is strongly influenced by education, is the focal outcome for this study. Despite these concerns, digital citizenship is a significant predictor for electoral engagement in the 2008 election. However, a closer examination of digital citizens revealed that electoral engagement was differentiated by gender and education thus furthering digital inequality. Findings suggested that digital citizenship should be broadened to include a set of digital skills that are more likely to account for Internet activities that improve electoral engagement. (shrink)

This paper approaches web archiving as preservation of digital memory and as a dynamic informational environment with complex problems of harvest, use, access and preservation. It uses a qualitative and exploratory-descriptive approach, identifying web archiving initiatives and promoting a reflection on the ways of defining web information collection, geographical gaps in web archiving and problems regarding uses and rights of this information. Whereas initiatives such as Internet Archive harvest a lot of information from across the web, an imbalance of (...) digital memory exists where many countries do not possess their own web archiving initiatives, and therefore, coverage of information is unequally produced. (shrink)

This research scrutinizes the repercussions of digital disinformation on knowledge disparities and delves into strategies aimed at fostering epistemic justice. The examination of the findings will involve a comprehensive exploration of various ethical frameworks and theories. This analytical approach seeks to identify the underlying ethical issues that may be inherent in the results. Ethical frameworks provide a structured lens through which we can evaluate the implications of the findings on different stakeholders, ensuring a thorough understanding of potential ethical dilemmas. (...) For this purpose, the research integrates philosophical, social, and technological perspectives. Firstly, through philosophical perspective this research explores the concept of epistemic justice and its conditions in the digital era. Secondly, this research will investigate the role of digital disinformation in creating knowledge inequities, especially the disparities in knowledge access and distribution. By understanding the mechanisms through which false or misleading information spreads in digital spaces, the research seeks to identify strategies and interventions that can eliminate the roots of epistemic injustice and foster a more just and enlightened knowledge landscape for everyone, regardless of their backgrounds. Abstrak Penelitian ini bertujuan mengkaji dampak disinformasi digital terhadap disparitas pengetahuan dan memeriksa strategi yang diterapkan untuk memajukan keadilan epistemik. Pemeriksaan temuan akan melibatkan eksplorasi komprehensif terhadap berbagai kerangka teori dan etika. Lewat pendekatan analitis akan diidentifikasi dan diperiksa isu-isu etis yang mungkin melekat dalam hasil penelitian. Kerangka etika menyediakan lensa terstruktur melalui mana kita dapat mengevaluasi implikasi temuan terhadap pemangku kepentingan yang berbeda, memastikan pemahaman menyeluruh terhadap potensi dilema etis. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan lintas disiplin dengan mengintegrasikan perspektif filosofis, sosial, dan teknologis. Pertama-tama, lewat perspektif filosofis akan diperiksa konsep keadilan epistemik dan implikasinya dalam era digital. Kedua, penelitian ini akan menyelidiki peran disinformasi digital dalam menciptakan ketidaksetaraan pengetahuan, khususnya bagaimana disinformasi digital berkontribusi pada disparitas dalam akses dan distribusi pengetahuan. Dengan memahami mekanisme melalui mana informasi palsu atau menyesatkan menyebar di ruang digital, penelitian ini berusaha mengidentifikasi pelbagai strategi dan intervensi yang dapat mengeliminasi akar ketidakadilan epistemik dan memajukan lanskap pengetahuan yang lebih adil dan mencerahkan bagi semua orang. Kata-kata kunci: keadilan epistemik, disinformasi digital, ketidakadilan pengetahuan. (shrink)

This collection presents policy and research that addresses digital inequalities, access, and skills, from multiple international perspectives. With a special focus on the impact of the COVID-19, the collection is based on the 2021 Digital Inclusion, Policy and Research Conference, with chapters from both academia and civic organizations. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed citizens’ relationship with digital technologies for the foreseeable future. Many people’s main channels of communication were transferred to digital services, platforms, and apps. Everything (...) ‘went online’: our families, friends, partners, health, work, news, politics, culture, arts and protesting. Yet access to digital technologies remained highly unequal. This brought digital inclusion policy and research to the fore, highlighting to policymakers and the public the ‘hidden’ challenges and impacts of digital exclusion and inequalities. The cutting-edge volume offers research findings and policycase studies that explore digital inclusion from the provision of basic access to digital, via education and digital literacy, and on to issues of gender and technology. Case studies are drawn from varied sources including the UK, Australia, South America, and Eastern Europe, providing a valuable resource in the pursuit of social equity and justice. ​ This is an open access book. (shrink)

In recent years, there has been an escalation in cases of cyber violence, which has had a chilling effect on users' behavior toward social media sites. This article explores the causes behind cyber violence and provides empirical data for developing means for effective prevention. Using elements of the stimulus–organism–response theory, we constructed a model of cyber-violence behavior. A closed-ended questionnaire was administered to collect data through an online survey, which results in 531 valid responses. A proposed model was tested using (...) partial least squares structural equation modeling using SmartPLS 3.0, v. Research findings show that information inequality is a strong external stimulus with a significant positive impact on digital distrust and negative emotion. However, the effects of information overload on digital distrust and the adverse effects of communication overload on negative emotions should not be ignored. Both digital distrust and negative emotions have significant positive impacts on cyber violence and cumulatively represent 11.5% changes in cyber violence. Furthermore, information overload, communication overload, information inequality, and digital distrust show a 27.1% change in negative emotions. This study also presents evidence for competitive mediation of digital distrust by information overload, information inequality, and cyber violence. The results of this study have implications for individual practitioners and scholars, for organizations, and at the governmental level regarding cyber-violence behavior. To test our hypotheses, we have constructed an empirical, multidimensional model, including the role of specific mediators in creating relationships. (shrink)

The technological revolution and appropriation of internet tools began to reshape the material basis of society and the urban space in collaborative, grassroots, leaderless, and participatory actions. The protest squares’ representation on Television screens and mainstream media has been broad. Various health, governmental, societal, and urban challenges have marked the advent of the Covid-19 virus. Inequalities have become more salient as poor people and minorities are more affected by the virus. Social distancing makes the typical forms of protest impossible to (...) carry out. Under social distancing, some state-led policies took advantage of social media to focus on the Covid-19 pandemic to silence social and political activities, censor criticism, and control the press. However, during the pandemic era, the movements for social justice have been particularly active, focusing on defending workers’ rights, mutual aid and solidarity, monitoring policymakers, and popular education. These progressive movements combined concrete practices and experiences to confront the reactionary, capitalist, and governmental actors that sought to shape and envision the world. Through different case studies of protest movements during the pandemic in Europe, the UK, and Asia, this paper argues that at the time of rising racial, social, and economic inequalities, the social activities adapted to the circumstances determined by the social distancing and the impossibility of people gathering in physical spaces. Subsequently, the people in different countries had various individual and collective responses to the support of health workers, systemic inequalities, loss of jobs, and other societal and financial challenges imposed by the governments. It means that, rather than disappearing, the social movements have adapted to the unexpected situations during the pandemic outbreak. The pandemic broke the new digital global wave of protests in this sense. (shrink)

The rapid growth of the Russian Internet offers great advantages, especially for geographical and cultural peripheries. Nevertheless, the locational inequality in Internet usage within the country has not yet been bridged. Meanwhile, some Russian villagers living in the countryside have started to ‘blog back’ to the metropolitan centres. How is the Russian village represented in these accounts by digital’nye derevenščiki ? What power relations are characteristic of villagers and townspeople, as they meet in online forums and blogs? The (...) case studies presented in this essay show that, although the traditional dichotomist opposition between centre and periphery has undergone substantial redefinition, the significance of these concepts as value-loaded, culturally coded discursive entities still prevails. The manifestation of hybrid identities, explored in recent research on transnational diasporic communities, has not yet affected the rather static conceptions of core and periphery at work within Russian borders and on the Russian Internet. (shrink)

The JSTOR Archive is a trusted digital repository providing for long-term preservation and access to leading academic journals and scholarly literature from around the world. The Archive is supported by libraries, scholarly societies, publishers, and foundations. It is an initiative of JSTOR, a not-for-profit organization with a mission to help the scholarly community take advantage of advances in technology. For more information regarding JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

The digital society is reconfiguring the relationships between digital culture and intercultural citizenship in Peru. To understand these connections, it is important to examine thesis reports presented in Peruvian universities. Conceptual mapping is used as a research method, allowing for the identification of emerging thematic connections. The results demonstrate a growing interest in research on digital culture and intercultural citizenship in Peru, as well as the interconnections and gaps that highlight national inequalities. Essentially, the need for public (...) policies that promote digital culture, and an active and participatory intercultural citizenship online is revealed. (shrink)

The digital divide refers to inequalities in access to information technology. One of the main reasons why the digital divide is an important issue is that access to information technology has a tremendous impact on people's ability to acquire knowledge. According to Alvin Goldman (1999), the project of social epistemology is to identify policies and practices that have good epistemic consequences. In this paper, I argue that this sort of approach to social epistemology can help us to decide (...) on policies for dealing with the digital divide. I argue, however, that Goldman's specific proposals for evaluating policies are not adequate. I make an alternative proposal based on the work of John Rawls (1971) on distributive justice. (shrink)

This book gathers international and interdisciplinary work on youth studies from the Global South, exploring issues such as continuity and change in youth transitions from education to work; contemporary debates on the impact of mobility, marginalization and violence on young lives; how digital technologies shape youth experiences; and how different institutions, cultures and structures generate a diversity of experiences of what it means to be young. The book is divided into four broad thematic sections: Education, work and social structure; (...) Identity and belonging; Place, mobilities and marginalization; and Power, social conflict and new forms of political participation of youth. (shrink)

Mobile applications (apps) have gained significant popularity as a new intervention strategy responding to violence against women and girls. Despite their growing relevance, an assessment from the perspective of public health ethics is still lacking. Here, we base our discussion on the understanding of violence against women and girls as a multidimensional, global public health issue on structural, societal and individual levels and situate it within the theoretical framework of structural injustice, including epistemic injustice. Based on a systematic app review (...) we previously conducted, we evaluate the content and functions of apps through the lens of structural injustice. We argue that technological solutions such as apps may be a useful tool in the fight against violence against women and girls but have to be situated within the broader frame of public health that considers the structural dimensions of such violence. Ultimately, the concerns raised by structural injustice are—alongside key concerns of safety, data privacy, importance of human supportive contact, and so forth—crucial dimensions in the ethical assessment of such apps. However, research on the role and relevance of apps as strategies to address the structural and epistemic dimensions of violence remains scarce. This article aims to provide a foundation for further discussion in this area and could be applicable to other areas in public health policy and practice. (shrink)

Human dignity, a normative category developed by the Colombian Constitutional Court, is seen from "humanist constitutionalism", due to its functionality for the configuration of the fundamental human right of access to the Internet that translates into a digital vital minimum of the human person, emphasizing in the inclusion of the poor and vulnerable affected by digital inequality. A complex fundamental hyperright that obliges the State to guarantee the human rights of their essential core and formulate public policies (...) for their effective satisfaction inherent in the realization of the valuable life project of the person and their effective functioning in society. (shrink)

Technology is often touted as a means for providing new opportunities for learning, economic development, and participation in digital-age citizenry—especially for those who have limited access to high-quality learning environments and who have historically been marginalized in decision-making processes. Unfortunately, these opportunities for advancement are inextricably linked to the possibility of continued disenfranchisement and oppression. Lack of access to technology—or an absence of informed guidance regarding its use—can actually magnify the inequities in students’ education and further limit their opportunities. (...) For these reasons, two of the most fundamental issues of cyber ethics in education are eliminating digital divides and promoting digital equity. In order to review the most recent trends in digital equity for elementary, secondary, and post-secondary education, this article analyzes 42 peer reviewed journal articles published in 2009-10 for trends in research and scholarly thought. (shrink)

The success of digital COVID-19 contact tracing requires a strategy that successfully addresses the digital divide—inequitable access to technology such as smartphones. Lack of access both undermines the degree of social benefit achieved by the use of tracing apps, and exacerbates existing social and health inequities because those who lack access are likely to already be disadvantaged. Recently, Singapore has introduced portable tracing wearables (with the same functionality as a contact tracing app) to address the equity gap and (...) promote public health. We argue that governments have an ethical obligation to ensure fair access to the protective benefits of contract tracing during the pandemic and that wearables are an effective way of addressing some important equity issues. The most contentious issues about contact tracing apps have been the potential infringements of privacy and individual liberty, especially where the use of apps or other technology (such as wearables or QR codes) is required for access to certain spaces. Here we argue that wearables, as opposed to apps alone, will make a digital contact tracing mandate more practical and explain some conditions under which such a mandate would be justified. We focus on Singapore as a case study that has recently deployed contact tracing wearables nationally, but also reference debate about wearables in Australia and New Zealand. Our analysis will be relevant to counties trialling similar portable tracing wearables. (shrink)

This chapter presents Connecting Scotland as a case study, highlighting the correlation between current research into digital inequality to identify those most in need of support, and the practical application of work to address this at scale through third sector organisations working directly with those at greatest risk of digital exclusion. The chapter also considers the vital role of the ‘trusted intermediary’ acting as digital champion for device recipients, and, using the data gathered via sessions with (...) hundreds of frontline staff, explore immediate challenges and opportunities for engagement. It will also reflect on the application of research in the creation of training and resources to support the programme. Finally, the chapter will reflect on some of the many lessons learned, and consider implications for both policy-makers and fieldworkers seeking to address digital inequality at scale. All three authors were involved extensively in the development and delivery of this work. (shrink)

This article explores some of the classed dynamics of doing digital feminist activism. Based on 30 qualitative in-depth interviews with feminist activists, who are based in Germany and the UK, the article examines the ways in which class background and class inequalities shape feminists’ experiences of being politically active on Instagram. Taking Instagram’s visual focus as a starting point for analysis, the article demonstrates the know-how and editorial skills required to produce visually appealing content. Access to this form of (...) expertise is not equally available, however, and class background affects —though does not determine— who feels confident and at ease in producing visually engaging content. Shifting to a different set of knowledges, the second part of the article homes in on a widely shared sense amongst the activists that they had to know and say the “right” things when taking part in activism online. Self-education was deemed an important feature of doing digital feminist activism, and this article critically explores the classed, but also racialised politics of digital “learning cultures”, and the ways in which the apparent requirement “to know” may have exclusionary effects. (shrink)

Anticipating the ethical impact of emerging technologies is an essential part of responsible innovation. One such emergent technology is the digital twin which we define here as a living replica of a physical system (human or non-human). A digital twin combines various emerging technologies such as AI, Internet of Things, big data and robotics, each component bringing its own socio-ethical issues to the resulting artefacts. The question thus arises which of these socio-ethical themes surface in the process and (...) how they are perceived by stakeholders in the field. In this report we present the results of a qualitative study into the socio-ethical benefits and socio-ethical risks of using digital twins in healthcare. Employing insights from ethics of technology and the Quadruple Helix theory of innovation, we conducted desk research of white literature and 23 interviews with representatives from the four helixes: industry, research, policy and civil society. The ethical scan revealed several important areas where the digital twin can produce socio-ethical value (e.g., prevention and treatment of disease, cost reduction, patient autonomy and freedom, equal treatment) but also several important areas of socio-ethical risks (e.g., privacy and property of data, disruption of existing societal structures, inequality and injustice). We conclude with a reflection on the employed analytical tool and suggestions for further research. (shrink)

Today’s exponential advancement of information and communication technologies is reconfiguring participatory urban development practices. The use of digital technology implies new forms of decentralised governance, collaborative knowledge production, and social activism. The digital transformation has the potential to overcome shortcomings in citizen participation, make participatory processes more deliberative, and enable collaborative approaches for making cities. While digital tools such as digital mapping, e‐participation platforms, location‐based games, and social media offer new opportunities for the various actors and (...) may act as a catalyst for renegotiating urban space and collective goods, digitalisation can also perpetuate or even attenuate existing inequalities and exclusion. This editorial introduces the thematic issue “Citizen Participation, Digital Agency, and Urban Development” which focuses on the trajectories and (dis)continuities of citizen participation through digitalisation and elaborates this with examples from Europe and Asia on how the digital transformation impacts, challenges, or reproduces hegemonic power relations in urban development. (shrink)

Given demonstrated global knowledge inequality, this article attempts to draw out the connection between tertiary education and research (TER), economic development and infrastructure, and human development. We first explore the connection between knowledge and economic development by tracing a short history of the emergence of knowledge in economic analysis and by introducing the concept of a ‘knowledge economy’. The World Bank’s ‘Knowledge Assessment Methodology’ (2000) attempted to evaluate such ‘knowledge economies’ through a number of proposed variables. We describe relationships (...) between such TER-variables, economic development, and infrastructure building, especially in the shift towards digital economies. We will show that there is a tangible, negative human impact from disparities in knowledge production, and significant improvement in human welfare when knowledge production capacities improve. Finally, we will illustrate how these relationships play out in two case studies, in Montenegro and Bangladesh. (shrink)

The rapidly expanding universe of information, media, and learning experiences available through digital technology is creating unique opportunities and vulnerabilities for children and adolescents. These issues are particularly salient during the developmental window at the transition from childhood into adolescence. This period of early adolescence is a time of formative social and emotional learning experiences that can shape identity development in both healthy and unhealthy ways. Increasingly, many of these foundational learning experiences are occurring in on-line digital environments. (...) These expanding vulnerabilities and opportunities are being further amplified for young adolescents growing up in low resourced settings around the world. Cultural and contextual factors influence access, use, and appropriation of digital technology. Further, neurobehavioral changes associated with the onset of puberty often coincide with entry into social media and more autonomous use of technology. In low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs), disparities in access, use, and appropriation of digital media can amplify prevailing economic gaps, and compound gender inequalities during early adolescence. In LMICs, adolescents are often the early adopters of mobile technology and social media platforms. While the impact of social media on the well-being, particularly mental health, of young adolescents has been a focus of research in high-income countries (HICs), much less is known about the impacts of social media use on young adolescents in LMICs. In this paper, we review what is known about the interaction between digital media and early adolescent development. We highlight crucial gaps in the evidence in LMICs; and describe some hypotheses and areas for future research to address these compelling issues. (shrink)

As COVID-19 spread, clinicians warned of mental illness epidemics within the coronavirus pandemic. Funding for digital mental health is surging and researchers are calling for widespread adoption to address the mental health sequalae of COVID-19. -/- We consider whether these technologies improve mental health outcomes and whether they exacerbate existing health inequalities laid bare by the pandemic. We argue the evidence for efficacy is weak and the likelihood of increasing inequalities is high. -/- First, we review recent trends in (...) digital mental health. Next, we turn to the clinical literature to show that many technologies proposed as a response to COVID-19 are unlikely to improve outcomes. Then, we argue that even evidence-based technologies run the risk of increasing health disparities. We conclude by suggesting that policymakers should not allocate limited resources to the development of many digital mental health tools and should focus instead on evidence-based solutions to address mental health inequalities. (shrink)

Well before the COVID-19 pandemic, proponents of digital psychiatry were touting the promise of various digital tools and techniques to revolutionize mental healthcare. As social distancing and its knock-on effects have strained existing mental health infrastructures, calls have grown louder for implementing various digital mental health solutions at scale. Decisions made today will shape the future of mental healthcare for the foreseeable future. We argue that bioethicists are uniquely positioned to cut through the hype surrounding digital (...) mental health, which can obscure crucial ethical and epistemic gaps that ought to be considered by policymakers before committing to a digital psychiatric future. Here, we describe four such gaps: The evidence gap, the inequality gap, the prediction-intervention gap, and the safety gap. (shrink)

Growing social inequalities represent a major concern associated with the Digital Revolution. The article tackles this issue by exploring how welfare regulations and redistribution policies can be rethought in the age of digital capitalism. It focuses on the history and enduring crisis of social citizenship rights in their connection with technological changes, in order to draw a comparison between the industrial and the digital scenario. The first section addresses the link between the Industrial Revolution and the genesis (...) of social rights. It describes the latter as a legal ‘machine’ designed to offset the imbalances produced by the technological movement of industrialization. The second and third sections introduce the notion of ‘industrial citizenship’ to describe the architecture of social rights in mature industrial societies and to contend that European systems of welfare are still largely modeled on an industrial standard. The fourth part investigates the impact of the Digital Revolution on this model of social citizenship. It identifies debates on basic income as a major trajectory for redesigning welfare regulations in a post-industrial era, and the digital user as a crucial emerging subject of rights. The final part explores how digital users could be entitled to social rights as data suppliers. To this end, it introduces the idea of ‘digital-social rights’ resulting from the incorporation of welfare and redistribution principles into emerging digital rights. Hence, it proposes a legal-political framework for the redistribution of the revenues generated by data in the form of a ‘digital basic income’ for citizens of cyberspace. (shrink)

Drawing on empirical research from two focus groups, this article investigates the narratives and discourses that emerged around pregnancy, technology, birth and motherhood. In so doing, the article engages in some long-standing debates within feminism around embodied and maternal subjectivity, agency and identity. Seen here, the focus groups serve initially to remind us of the pervasiveness of gender inequality and the continual ambiguity of, and anxieties around, maternal subjectivity. The focus groups reconfigure these issues through a technological lens, which (...) in turn seems to offer new spaces where agency can be (momentarily, problematically) claimed. This in turn extends existing debates in new directions through the particular framework of technology that is variously figured here as an object, as information and as imaginary digital space. All of these constructions, however, become problematic as they—despite their promises—nevertheless ultimately and profoundly return the women to an emplaced, embodied subjectivity that has been at the heart of feminist debate for so long. (shrink)

Purpose This study aims to examine the long-term effects of an Israeli digital literacy government program for disadvantaged populations, as they are perceived by participants of the program one year after completing the course. Design/methodology/approach Participants in the program were interviewed about the effects of participating in the program, their experiences and satisfaction, in retrospect, a year after they completed the program. Findings The main reasons for joining the program included cognitive motivations, mainly interest to become familiar with internet (...) applications, followed by employment aspiration. Positive benefits from participation included accumulated knowledge, confidence in using technology, empowerment and enhanced sense of self-efficacy. Interviewees also reported that as they could not practice or communicate with instructors once they completed the program, a significant portion of the accumulated gains faded. Social implications Social and practical implications: Digital technologies constitute key infrastructure to facilitate public participation, as well as for gaining social, political and economic capital. Therefore, there is a significant social value in reducing digital inequality by increasing digital literacy of disadvantaged populations, i.e. citizens with low socioeconomic status and low digital literacy. This study sheds light on the benefits gained from such programs, as perceived by past participants. Originality/value While previous studies evaluating digital literacy programs focus on specific technical improvements and short-term gains, this study investigates the long-term effects and shortcomings of the program as perceived by participants. (shrink)

The digital divide is considered by many authors as one of the major ethical issues of the information age as it reinforces existing inequalities in society. This paper examines the gender digital divide in Europe and presents a detailed case-study of one of the most successful e-Government systems in Greece: the Greek TAXation Information System. Surprisingly, this efficient and well-running system exhibits longstanding gender discrimination. However, the problem is not technical but legal and political and requires careful consideration, (...) as the analysis unveils a gender digital gap in e-Government usage not only in Greece but all around Europe. (shrink)

This article explores gender inequities and sexual double standards in teens’ digital image exchange, drawing on a UK qualitative research project on youth ‘sexting’. We develop a critique of ‘postfeminist’ media cultures, suggesting teen ‘sexting’ presents specific age and gender related contradictions: teen girls are called upon to produce particular forms of ‘sexy’ self display, yet face legal repercussions, moral condemnation and ‘slut shaming’ when they do so. We examine the production/circulation of gendered value and sexual morality via teens’ (...) discussions of activities on Facebook and Blackberry. For instance, some boys accumulated ‘ratings’ by possessing and exchanging images of girls’ breasts, which operated as a form of currency and value. Girls, in contrast, largely discussed the taking, sharing or posting of such images as risky, potentially inciting blame and shame around sexual reputation (e.g. being called ‘slut’, ‘slag’ or ‘sket’). The daily negotiations of these new digitally mediated, heterosexualised, classed and raced norms of performing teen feminine and masculine desirability are considered. (shrink)

Health innovation is mainly envisioned in direct connection to medical research institutions or pharmaceutical and technology companies. Yet, these types of innovation often do not meet the needs and expectations of individuals affected by health conditions. With the emergence of digital health technologies and social media, we can observe a shift, which involves people living with illness modifying and improving medical and health devices outside of the formal research and development sector, figuring both as users and innovators. This patient‐led (...) innovation has been celebrated in innovation studies and economics as a “bottom‐up” type of innovation. In this article, we take a closer look at open‐source patient‐led innovation in the context of type 1 diabetes care. In our inquiry, we pay particular attention to the social and ethical dimensions of this innovation, building on empirical material. Upon exploring the notion of patient‐led innovation and its socio‐political context through the lens of intersectional and global health justice, we argue that a proactive strategy is needed to ensure that open‐source patient‐led innovation will be more globally accessible, center the health needs of the most underserved populations, as well as facilitate equitable and just health benefits. To support this aim, we provide a range of examples of different initiatives addressing the persistent inequalities that have so far inhibited patient‐led innovation from more fully materializing its innovative potential. (shrink)

Gender, sexuality and embodiment in digital spheres have been increasingly studied from various critical perspectives: From research highlighting the articulation of intimacies, desires, and sexualities in and through digital spaces to theoretical explorations of materiality in the digital realm. With such a high level of (inter)disciplinarity, theories, methods, and analyses of gender, sexuality, and embodiment in relation to digital spheres have become highly diversified. Aiming to reflect this diversity, this special issue brings together innovative and newly (...) developed theoretical, empirical, analytical, and critical approaches in the study of gender, sexuality, and embodiment in digital spheres. By connecting intersectionality and digitality to one another, it adopts an integrated approach that reflects the intricacy and interconnectedness of social categories and markers of difference, privilege, performance, and discrimination. The contributions explore a range of differently situated digital cultural practices, including intimate and sexual experiences with(in) digital media, online self-presentation, expressions of digital resistance, and forms of backlash and online attacks. What connects all these articles, is their critical approach to intersectional inequalities and privileges in relation to digitality, plus their nuanced perspective on gender, sexuality, and embodiment interferentially. The final article is based on a roundtable discussion and aims to encourage interdisciplinary connections and suggests ways of doing research that builds bridges between academia and activism. (shrink)

For theorists interested in screen cultures and the digital economy, looking beyond Facebook and YouTube prompts a more refined conceptualization of participation and monetization on social networks. This paper examines YY as representative of Chinese platforms that monetize spectacles of social inequality. I first discuss why these financially successful platforms have eluded the attention of media and cultural critics, and then explain how these social network platforms blend subversive texting with streaming through a format called ‘bullet screen’. This (...) format collapses social inequality into a spectacle of money flowing and vanishing on screen. This investigation contributes to the theoretical discussion of mixed-semiotics, reorients several Marxian neologisms and explains what texting means on screen in both semiotic and economic terms. (shrink)

Despite much discussion of thedigital divide, little academic work hasdirectly analyzed the specific political andpolicy contexts in which the concept is beingdeveloped and deployed. This paper undertakesan analysis of one such initiative, theactivity of the supranational DigitalOpportunity Task Force (DOT Force). Theanalysis provides a critical discursiveanalysis of the final report of the DOT Force,together with thick description of theprocesses by which it was produced. Theresolution of numerous antagonisms between theparticipants in the narrative of the finalreport reflects the field of power (...) in which theDOT Force operates. The issue of the digitaldivide can be best understood as providing agenerative resource through which the variouspolitical interests represented in the DOTForce process can normatively reconfigure theconceptual and ethical possibilities itsignifies to renew a dominant, singular'secular salvation story' of the global. Thespecific closure, articulation and legitimationof the digital divide instantiates anaction-oriented temporality and a transformedmoral agenda, from a concern with inequality toa pressing inclusionary imperative to connectwith the promise of technology and development. (shrink)

The study of digital economies and the sociology of risk have, with few exceptions, a relationship of benign mutual neglect despite possible important connections between the two. This article aims to bridge the gap between these two fields using Beck’s theory of risk society to explore how the digital economy’s momentum of innovation is generating risks and limiting the scope of existing democratic decision-making via the power of the digital economy to create social faits accomplis outside of (...) democratic control. Three specific risks emerging from the dynamics of innovation of digital economies are discussed as vignettes to illustrate these developments: (1) the remaking of interpersonal co-presence and solitary life; (2) the growing threats of AI to intensify unemployment and inequality; and (3) the impact on the environment of an ‘always on’ and ‘always upgrading’ digital communication ecosystem. With the gap between the potential and the actual use value of the digitalization of the infrastructure of life continuing to grow, this article argues that a different relationship between digital innovation and private and public spheres needs to be established to protect the effectiveness of contemporary democracy. (shrink)

The Anthropocene, as one of the core concepts currently used to understand and reflect on the relationships among humans, species, and planet, has received widespread attention and discussion in the global academic community. As one of the important alternative concepts to the Anthropocene, the term Plantationocene was first proposed by Haraway et al. in October 2014. Compared to the former, it reveals the fundamental characteristics of the modern era, and continues to enrich its theoretical connotations amidst rapid shifts in social (...) concepts and practices. Tracing and sorting out the genealogy of this concept over less than a decade since its inception allows for a microhistorical study of conceptual history, revealing three key dimensions of its meaning: (i) a critique of the history of (post)colonialism and extractivism, (ii) although plantations are known worldwide for monocrop agriculture and have so-called keystone species, they are essentially a multispecies symbiotic system. From its inception, the concept of the Plantationocene inherently encompasses the idea of “multispecies entanglement and multispecies politics,“ and (iii) a metaphor for structural power relations from real word to digital world. Research indicates that the Plantationocene has become a framework for understanding the connection between ecological destruction and social inequality. In the game of global ecological politics and academic power relationships in the post-humanist era, it requires us to pay attention not only to the relationships among humans but also those among multispecies to build a more just and sustainable society in the future. (shrink)

The goal of this paper is to examine COVID-19 potential long-run effects on income inequality, seeking answers in the wider context of inequality sources and foregoing evidence from industrialised countries. Thus, the phenomena that existed prior to the pandemic but, due to its impact, may accelerate the process of growing income inequality in the long term, must be identified. Since left unchecked, growing disparities may lead to long-lasting negative effects and forming a kind of vicious cycle, the (...) article also seeks to present general policy proposals that possibly can mitigate disparities. According to the hypothesis, the ongoing structural transformation triggered by the pandemic can act as a catalyst for the further dynamics of increasing inequality. What has been identified as the most important drivers of inequality is digital divide, as well as automation and robotization having significant impact on the world of work. (shrink)

The rise of the digital economy, in terms of digital innovation (DI), requires the reconsideration of the notion of innovation to clarify its conceptualisation in a post–industrial digital economy. The current science, technology, innovation (STI), and social studies of innovation are lacking conceptual, theoretical, and analytical grounds for the exploration of DI, despite their pervasive impact on our lives. The aim of this study is to provide a conceptual framework for the exploration of DI, driven by growing (...) recognition of the fact that the concept of innovation is faced with contemporary crises due to the theoretical and analytical limits of industrial innovation when adapting to socio-economic changes. This article discusses the ways in which intrinsic features of DI differentiate from industrial innovation, constructing the concept of DI around its two distinctive features: raising social inequality through four selected mechanisms and disrupting business models with ambivalent consequences. These characteristics have been identified to be the most intriguing when attempting to understand the nature of DI in today’s digital society. This research applies an intersectional and interdisciplinary approach, allowing for a critical and qualitative analysis of the current concepts of DI in different scientific fields and their convergence into a common theoretical ground for the social science of DI. (shrink)

As we live in a culture where “everything can be commodified, measured and calculated and can be put in the competitive market for sale, detached from its roots and purpose,” there is need to redefine our humanness in terms of the changing nature of science, technology, and their deeper impact on human life. More than anything else, it is Information Technology that now has tremendous influence on all spheres of our life, and in a sense, IT has become the destiny (...) of our life. And this is where the real trauma lies. On the one hand, our being in the cyberspace opens up new and exciting horizons before us; on the other hand, we ourselves are changed and transformed in the process. The virtual world transforms human users to a problem-solver technocrat. The speed at which Information Technology is changing the way that youth around the world are socializing, playing, and researching, it is the common practice now for a 15-year old to go home and update their MySpace page, followed by playing online games, or looking up the new trendy YouTube video. These forms of technology are often the topic of adolescent conversations as YouTube, blogs, e-magazines, Face book, MySpace, iPhones, and iPods dominate the commercial and social networking market. Some researchers refer to this phenomenon as ubiquitous technology drawing attention to the fact that ubiquitous technology acknowledges the speedy adoption of day-to-day use of technology as a global phenomenon. In this background, this article aims at revisiting the question, “What is to be human in the era of Ubiquitous Technology?” From a feminist perspective, one can still redefine the boundaries between femininity and masculinity in the context of IT and its impact on our lifestyle and thought style. While examining the ways in which our definitions of “woman” and “man” are shifting in this new communication environment, Elizabeth Lane Lawley observes that we cannot fix a single center from which the experiences of women with computer and communication systems can be viewed and that such fixity would only serve to deepen inequities rather than exposing and removing them. She finally submits, “It is possible to use new theoretical perspectives on the shifting boundaries of gender definitions to rethink a previously deterministic view of the effect of new technologies on society, and particularly the effect of those technologies on women. While the gradual absence of the subject from the field of Artificial Intelligence leads to the invisibility of feminine care along with social and relational nature of man, some feminists dismiss the biological sex distinction on such issues and encourage females to ‘imitate man’ and to become more aggressive, assertive and dominating” (Lawley 1993 ). What are the possible impacts of this new technology on the so-called feminine traits of our human nature? How far our definitions of “woman” and “man” are shifting in this new communication environment? This is what this article seeks to explore. (shrink)

A timely interrogation of the concept of 'expertise' in cultural work, exploring the characteristics of aesthetic expertise in the digital age, and its relation to inequalities in the cultural sector.

What remains invisible in the discourse, contributes to perpetuating multilayered inequalities through discourse. Stereotypical representations, under-representations, hyper-representations, or misrepresentations regulate rape myths, and consequently, particular ways of seeing and behaving of those inside or outside the cultural boundaries. It has, therefore, been studied if and how rape victims and perpetrators have been visually represented and framed in the digital illustrations on rape in Pakistan. Discrepancies concerning identity construction of the rape victims and rapists as well as the depiction of (...) multifarious socio-semiotic dimensions of rape have been analyzed. Thirty-five digital illustrations appearing in 32 blogs and news articles published on rape cases in Pakistan have been purposively selected and studied based on ideational metafunction suggested by Kress and van Leeuwen. Results reveal under-representation of rapists and perpetrators, law enforcement, survivors, and existing myths regarding revenge rape, child abuse, gang rape, marital rape, and gender-based victimhood. The study has implications for semiotics, rape studies, gender studies, and digital discourse. (shrink)