Anti-development Bias in the Use of the Internet in Developing Countries. What Underlies It?

Recent years have seen a shift away from issues related to access to new technologies in general and the internet in particular. There is talk, in some policy circles, of extending ‘beyond access’, to examine how such technologies are used and what benefits they actually yield to users. In fact, numerous field studies have now examined this question in the context of developing countries and come to the unexpected conclusion that the selection of uses on the internet tends to favour leisure over work. After reviewing the evidence that underlies this conclusion, this final chapter is concerned to examine its implications. One response is to accept and even commend the result, by suggesting that it reduces the leisure divide between rich and poor countries. An alternative response, one to which I adhere, is to examine the causes that underlie the anti-development bias before deciding to accept it for policy purposes. What I suggest is that the choice of internet uses reflects major gaps in knowledge about the internet and a severe lack of digital skills on the part of first time users of the technology (especially among uneducated and low-income individuals). Policy should attempt to redress these limitations rather than accept the outcomes to which they give rise.