Determinants of Digital Poverty

In the previous chapter, we started analyzing the evolution of poverty, introducing the implications of digital inequalities and their contribution to the nature of poverty in the digital age. In this book, the concept of digital poverty is intricately linked to the three levels of the digital divide (Ragnedda, 2017). Digital poverty extends beyond basic access to digital technologies, the lack of which is commonly defined as the first level of the digital divide, as we will delve into more extensively. Access to digital technologies alone is insufficient to guarantee a meaningful digital experience. Digital poverty also encompasses the second level of the digital divide, involving the lack of necessary digital skills to fully engage with the Internet. Moreover, digital poverty acknowledges the third level of the digital divide, which pertains to the ability to navigate the Internet effectively and mitigate potential negative consequences associated with its use. This layered nature of digital poverty suggests that social inequalities are both the outcomes of and triggers for different forms of digital and social exclusion.