Digital (In)Equality, Digital Inclusion, Digital Humanism: Summary of the Web Science Workshop DigDivDigHum-20

Abstract

From its inception, the World Wide Web has been intended to be a force for social good. But there are many barriers and obstacles, a situation commonly characterized as the Digital Divide. Several billion people especially in the Global South do not have access to Internet/Web for reasons of lacking (affordable) infrastructure, poverty, low literacy, lack of digital skills, language, etc., and are thus digitally excluded. Also in the Global North, despite being technologically “advanced”, we see severe digital inequalities and power disparities, in part for the same reasons and in part due to the Web being exploited as a centralized surveillance and money-making machine, controlled by big parties such as states and big (tech) corporations, thus creating further inequalities and exclusion. This paper summarizes the main themes and insights from ongoing research presented and discussed at the WebSci'20 Workshop on Digital (In)Equality, Digital Inclusion, Digital Humanism.