Abstract

LEVIS, Diego. Digital inclusion is not social inclusion: From freedom illusion to totalitarian hyper-consumerism. Psicol. Conoc. Soc. [online]. 2017, vol.7, n.2, pp.209-225. ISSN 1688-7026.  https://doi.org/10.26864/pcs.v7.n2.12.

In the 1996 World Economic Forum, J.P. Barlow, co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, presented a “Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace”. In his conclusion, he claimed that that the Internet would lead to a “more humane and fair civilization”. This announcement served as a boost for Internet expansion worldwide, associated with promises of greater freedom, democracy and prosperity. Since then, different social actors have been asking for digital inclusion initiatives, which hold the idea that access to internet connected devices is a necessary condition to improve life quality of disfavoured social groups. Two decades have passed since this statement was made, and almost half of the world’s population has Internet access. The promised (and desired) social inclusion is far from being achieved. Nevertheless, the fragmented structure of the Internet itself and the use of screens and telematic services outside power centers, offer opportunities for exploring and developing new sociocommunicative models that foster the emergence of favourable conditions for a true social, economic and cultural emancipation.

Keywords : Screen; Emancipation; Control; Techno-totalitarianism.

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