Global Cyberspace: The Involvement Problem

In the present-day information world the involvement of an individual in Cyberspace is an important social marker determining belonging to one or another social group. Your circle of contacts, social connections, profession, qualification and place in the social hierarchy will depend on whether you are or aren't an Internet user. On the government level we can speak about the loss of the competitive position in the struggle for the spot in the global information structure.

Therefore, an important problem is cyber inequality, when an individual having no physical possibility to use the Internet, is eliminated from many spheres of social and economic life of the society. It is the low level of economic development that prevents the Internet technology development in some countries. In other countries there is a political or ideological pressure on the expansion of Internet network access. Both of these factors reflect negatively on the ability of the society to move forward.

Cyber inequality can also exist within one country and this inequality can be significant. We can see it through the example of the Russian Federation, where different regions have unequal access to the Internet technologies and the development is uneven. We can claim that the residents of the regions where there is no access to Internet economy, state digital services and virtual social space are discriminated.