Information inequality: Realization of capabilities as an information policy goal

The inevitability of information and communication technologies for the conducting of everyday life has caused growing information inequality to be identified as a key threat to the well-being of members of contemporary society. This challenge is addressed through a critical perspective that calls for a reformulation of the information policy agenda. The analysis begins by discussing definitions of information and communication and the interdependence between them, followed by an identification of the gaps in access to information that have been addressed in the past by information policy and of the underlying utilitarian theory that supported the development of these policies. The chapter then offers an alternative approach to the formulation of information policy targeting inequality, embedded in distributive justice concerns and recognizing the technological affordances of contemporary information and communication technologies. The capabilities approach is then offered as the proper framework guiding information policy development in our times.