The late ‘70s were a period of optimism regarding the future impact of digital technologies taking into account technological deterministic approach. This presentation aims to prompt a critical reflection on the social inequalities revolving around the access and use of ICTs that have endured through decades, which implies the deconstruction of established concepts recurrent in literature. The access and use of ICTs has turned into a crucial issue, since social digital inequality restrains our live trajectories and can lead to or exacerbate other forms of inequality. The functions of some recently developed technologies, which involve AI and algorithms, have a differentiated impact depending on the social and economic conditions of individuals. In this sense, through documental analysis, we also analyze how these inequalities, that arise in terms of use, play an important role at various levels, such as civic and political participation, privacy protection, resistance to digital surveillance, and even when it comes to resisting the algorithmic manipulation of choices. Finally, as a matter of our collective future we set the challenging reflection based on the urgent need for the design of a different internet and on the empowerment of people to its use.

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unequal future,digital inequalities,political participation,surveillance,algorithmic manipulation

• Sociologia - Ciências Sociais