Abstract
This article explores how artificial intelligence and data-driven platforms are reshaping the conditions of democratic citizenship by producing new forms of digital inequality. Drawing on critical theory, developmental psychology, media studies and constitutional law, the article develops an integrated framework combining Nancy Fraser’s theory of participatory justice, García Coll et al.’s ecological model of youth development and Valkenburg et al.’s social compensation theory. Empirically, it engages with survey data on perceived discrimination and youth digital skills, as well as emblematic case studies such as XLAW, Prometea and Cambridge Analytica. Normatively, it situates these developments within a broader project of digital constitutionalism, focusing on informational self-determination, substantive equality and democratic participation. The analysis concludes that addressing digital inequalities requires not only technical and regulatory fixes (GDPR, DSA, AI Act), but also a constitutional re-embedding of AI and platform power within frameworks of transparency, contestability and participatory governance.
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