EVOLUTION AND CRITIQUE OF DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP: FROM THE AUTONOMOUS NAVIGATOR TO THE SURVEILLED USER

Abstract

This essay traces the historical trajectory of the concept of digital citizenship, bringing into tension two archetypal figures that encapsulate deep transformations: the subject conceived as a sovereign navigator of their own digital routes, and the contemporary individual whose online experience is mediated and shaped by algorithmic surveillance mechanisms. Drawing on a diachronic critical-documentary approach, four key moments in the conceptual evolution are identified and analyzed: the liberal paradigm that equated citizenship with technical access; the neo-republican activist turn; the CEPAL institutional response during the pandemic crisis, marked by the primacy of employability; and the contemporary critical frameworks articulated by organizations such as Agesic and Mineduc. The analysis highlights the gap between instrumental technical competence and the effective exercise of rights in digital environments, showing how market logics have progressively colonized the public sphere. The study also delves into the digital gender gap denounced by UNESCO, the political-pedagogical metaphor of "deciphering the code," and the connection of these issues to Sustainable Development Goal 11. The final reflections point toward a model of digital sovereignty that articulates critical literacy, gender equity, and an understanding of the mechanisms of technological operation, within an educational horizon challenged by advances in Artificial Intelligence.