The Right of Access to Public Information in the Digital Age: Challenges Related to Inclusion and Exclusion of Citizens in Public Life

The level of an individual’s awareness is influenced both by their own activity and by the conditions created by the social and political system. The exchange of information constitutes the realization of communication processes, which are fundamentally based on the freedom to receive and provide any desired information (Szulczewski, 1982). The right of access to information is commonly described as an indispensable condition of a civil society, as well as a factor shaping the development of democracy. The widespread assertion that the introduction of legal regulations on access to information concerning public rights constitutes the realization of civil society principles requires deeper reflection (Szulczewski, 1982). The right to information serves as a factor shaping democracy, understood not merely as a collection of institutions but as the possibility of conscious social participation (Szulczewski, 1979). The digital age can both facilitate and restrict citizen participation in public life, particularly in relation to one of the fundamental forms of participation: access to public information. This study attempts to capture the extent to which the implementation of the right of access to public information through new technologies can promote inclusion, and conversely, to what degree it may contribute to the exclusion of citizens from exercising one of the fundamental political rights that constitute the pillar of civil society. This study seeks to determine the impact of the digital age on the functioning of the right of access to public information. How can new technologies influence the inclusion of citizens in public life with respect to the application of the right of access to public information? How might the functioning of this right in the digital era contribute to the exclusion of citizens?