Introduction

We are living in an era of ubiquitous digital connectivity yet with physical, first-level digital access still unavailable or severely restricted for many people around the world; access remains an important, though more complex, issue. Even in the context of widespread broadband availability in developed nations, we know that digital access is not achieved for all, nor does it mean the same thing across different demographics. Circumstances of disadvantage prescribe different communication needs resulting in a variety of ways that digital platforms are used. This is further complicated by varying capacities to develop effective access strategies to overcome social, political, and market constraints. The extensive body of research on inclusion in developing countries has highlighted similarities and differences in access issues, with lessons for improving policy responses in other country contexts yet to be fully comprehended. At the same time, issues of digital access cannot be divorced from the global spread of a technological progressivist ideology that encourages participation and access to digital services as integral to everyday life.

This special issue aims to refocus inclusion research, policy frameworks, and strategies by bringing together leading communications scholars from Australia, the Philippines, and the United States to engage with and address new and persistent digital inequalities in the context of the ubiquitous digital and mobile media environment. Leading the issue, Ellie Rennie, Julian Thomas and Chris Wilson tackle the problem of the deficit of data on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People’s digital inclusion in Australia. These authors raise critical questions about the role of qualitative and quantitative datasets, without which evidence-based communication policy is not possible, the predominance of mobile-only access, and the need to contextualise evidence to develop culturally relevant inclusion responses that align with ‘people’s agency, priorities, and worldview’.

In the next article, Colin Rhinesmith, Bianca Reisdorf, and Madison Bishop present findings from two studies in the United States to argue that the ability to pay, rather than ‘willingness-to-pay’, provides a better model for understanding the decisions low-income individuals and families make about spending money on fixed broadband access at home.

In the third article, Sora Park, Julie Freeman, and Catherine Middleton show how their research on spatial digital divides in Australian rural communities reveals the meanings that people give to digital access in their everyday lives and the user-strategies employed to deal with poor internet connectivity that leads to social exclusion and disadvantage.

In her article, Cecilia S. Uy-Tioco takes a critical stance on normative approaches to digital inclusion, using her research on digital access in the Philippines to show that poor access is structured into the very telecommunications’ services and products that enable Filipinos to access and participate in the network society. The ‘good enough’ access available to the working-class aligns with the neoliberal rhetoric of individual empowerment through technology, while at the same time extending the reach of global capital and reproducing structural inequalities.

In the fifth article, Justine Humphry develops a parallel cautionary perspective that addresses the dangers of focusing only on the benefits of digital participation. She highlights the risks and harms that arise for people experiencing homelessness and other marginalised groups by increased data use and smartphone dependence as a result of whole-of-government digital transformation agendas in Australia and internationally.

In the final article, Sharon Strover examines the digital equity goals of public libraries as civic institutions that support the public sphere and how libraries are negotiating their role in the provision of internet access and digital literacy. This is assessed with specific reference to the results of a mobile hotspot lending programme by New York City Libraries, which targets people with no broadband service.

Together the six papers in this special issue deepen our understanding of what it means to experience digital exclusion and disadvantage in contemporary global digital contexts and show how such an understanding provides the foundation for an array of concrete suggestions for improving policies and responding to digital inequalities. Many thanks to the reviewers who generously provided constructive feedback to assist the authors refine their manuscripts. Your support and expertise were greatly appreciated.