‘What is the harm of the digital divide that must be the object of digital inclusion work and strategies? A systematic review’

Background Many authors have published varying and sometimes competing accounts of the harm of the digital divide. These accounts are worth synthesizing in advance towards articulating the politics of the digital divide resistance.Methods This systematic review adopts the Preferred Reporting Items f...

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Main Author: Cornelius Ewuoso
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2025-12-01
Series:Cogent Social Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311886.2025.2527965
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author Cornelius Ewuoso
author_facet Cornelius Ewuoso
author_sort Cornelius Ewuoso
collection DOAJ
description Background Many authors have published varying and sometimes competing accounts of the harm of the digital divide. These accounts are worth synthesizing in advance towards articulating the politics of the digital divide resistance.Methods This systematic review adopts the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) to synthesize evidence on the digital divide.Results Although the digital divide is not always a moral wrong, this review has found that the harm of the digital divide commonly entails capability deprivation. There are three orders of the digital divide, and these orders can occur at the macro, meso, and micro levels. The antithesis of the digital divide is digital inclusion. However, digital inclusion can fail to be empowering or address the divide if they do not address the factors that moderate the digital divide, account for the context where the digital inclusion work will be undertaken, or other variables that may have implications for the digital inclusion strategies that are developed.Discussion and Conclusion Many scholars increasingly recognise the importance of digital inclusion for flourishing today. However, a failure to articulate its harm or what must be targeted to bridge the gap could have devastating implications for the digital inclusion work.
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spelling doaj-art-ed9fde8af5f54fcc997b32f7300055db2025-08-20T03:30:40ZengTaylor & Francis GroupCogent Social Sciences2331-18862025-12-0111110.1080/23311886.2025.2527965‘What is the harm of the digital divide that must be the object of digital inclusion work and strategies? A systematic review’Cornelius Ewuoso0Steve Biko Centre for Bioethics, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South AfricaBackground Many authors have published varying and sometimes competing accounts of the harm of the digital divide. These accounts are worth synthesizing in advance towards articulating the politics of the digital divide resistance.Methods This systematic review adopts the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) to synthesize evidence on the digital divide.Results Although the digital divide is not always a moral wrong, this review has found that the harm of the digital divide commonly entails capability deprivation. There are three orders of the digital divide, and these orders can occur at the macro, meso, and micro levels. The antithesis of the digital divide is digital inclusion. However, digital inclusion can fail to be empowering or address the divide if they do not address the factors that moderate the digital divide, account for the context where the digital inclusion work will be undertaken, or other variables that may have implications for the digital inclusion strategies that are developed.Discussion and Conclusion Many scholars increasingly recognise the importance of digital inclusion for flourishing today. However, a failure to articulate its harm or what must be targeted to bridge the gap could have devastating implications for the digital inclusion work.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311886.2025.2527965Digital divideharmdigital inclusionsystematic reviewEthics PhilosophyBioethics
spellingShingle Cornelius Ewuoso
‘What is the harm of the digital divide that must be the object of digital inclusion work and strategies? A systematic review’
Cogent Social Sciences
Digital divide
harm
digital inclusion
systematic review
Ethics Philosophy
Bioethics
title ‘What is the harm of the digital divide that must be the object of digital inclusion work and strategies? A systematic review’
title_full ‘What is the harm of the digital divide that must be the object of digital inclusion work and strategies? A systematic review’
title_fullStr ‘What is the harm of the digital divide that must be the object of digital inclusion work and strategies? A systematic review’
title_full_unstemmed ‘What is the harm of the digital divide that must be the object of digital inclusion work and strategies? A systematic review’
title_short ‘What is the harm of the digital divide that must be the object of digital inclusion work and strategies? A systematic review’
title_sort what is the harm of the digital divide that must be the object of digital inclusion work and strategies a systematic review
topic Digital divide
harm
digital inclusion
systematic review
Ethics Philosophy
Bioethics
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311886.2025.2527965
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