Digital inclusion and the Right (not) to Use the Internet: developments in Europe and Belgium

Over the past three decades, the internet and digital technologies have transformed how people communicate, access information and participate in society (World Bank, 2016). Since the early days of the internet, policymakers and scholars have identified the unequal distribution of access to it, framing the “digital divide” as a pressing challenge (Vassilakopoulou and Hustad, 2023). This challenge is increasingly understood as multidimensional, encompassing not only gaps in access, but also disparities in skills, motivation, and the use of technology for personal benefit (Ragnedda et al., 2022). Despite such sustained policy attention and scholarly engagement, persistent structural and intersectional inequalities have continued to deepen the divide, especially for vulnerable groups (Ranchordás, 2022), who face such challenges more than others (MacGregor and Badurova, 2025; Aouici, 2025). This problem is exacerbated by the “digital-by-default” strategies, which create growing reliance on digital technologies across critical domains such as education, social welfare and employment (Degrave, 2025). As offline alternatives disappear, exclusion from the internet now carries profound legal and social consequences (Degrave, 2025). The persistent digital divide, combined with the digital dependency, creates a self-reinforcing cycle (Ragnedda et al., 2022). Research indicates that the burden falls heaviest on those most reliant on public services – e.g. low-income families, older adults, or persons with disabilities – who are often the least equipped to navigate digital-only systems (Degrave, 2025; Ranchordás, 2022). This dynamic traps vulnerable groups in a paradoxical situation: they are simultaneously excluded from and forced into digital engagement, deepening existing inequalities (Degrave, 2025). This article critically engages with current digital divide/inclusion scholarship and policy evolution, which often presume digital engagement as universally desired and inherently beneficial (Terzis, 2025). It examines recent European Union policy efforts, such as the European Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles for the Digital Decade (European Parliament et al., 2023) which call for both digital inclusion and the preservation of offline alternatives. It builds on critical perspectives that distinguish between structural digital exclusion and personal choice to disengage (Mariën and Prodnik, 2014). As such, the paper investigates the inherent limitations of current inclusion strategies and policy discourse which often overlook the socio-economic conditions shaping digital choice and agency (Mariën and Prodnik, 2014). This article therefore uses vulnerability as a lens through which these limitations are examined, as these groups remain disproportionately exposed to exclusion in digitally dependent societies (Ranchordás, 2022). To assess how the digital divide is addressed within law and policy, the paper examines Belgium as a key case study, where the legal precedents upholding offline alternatives on anti-discrimination grounds have been established. On this basis, the article explores the question whether a meaningful approach to closing the digital divide perhaps not only requires the right to use the internet, but also the right not to use it.