The right to stay offline? Not during the pandemic

Abstract

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented event which is transforming societies and strengthening the bond between human and technology. However, less attention is paid to nonusers of the Internet. To combat the pandemic, the Polish government introduced, in June 2020, a new policy that made it possible for citizens who had lost their job as a consequence of the crisis to obtain financial support. The application for this allowance was, however, possible only via an online platform. The paper discusses how this violated the right of the unemployed to stay offline.