ABSTRACT
Today, we observe how multicultural societies in the Global South and Global North regions of the world are facing new challenges brought up by the digital divide. Previously analysed by scholars as inequalities in access to internet and information and communication technologies (ICTs) (Van Dijk, 2013) and in use of digital technologies, today the digital divide has extended to new levels, forms and domains. This includes inequalities in benefits or tangible outcomes people receive through their online engagement (Van Dijk, 2020), different levels of users’ digital capital and previously understudied gaps such as the algorithms divide or epistemic inequality (Vartanova & Gladkova, 2022). Given the fact that social and digital inequalities tend to reinforce each other, those who are more socially advantaged tend to get the most out of the internet, further reinforcing their social position by using ICTs. This problem gains particular importance in big multicultural and multi-ethnic societies, where providing equal opportunities for online engagement for all minor groups spread across a huge territory of the country can be a serious challenge.
