We joined a group of organisations led by Unia and the Combat Poverty Service in filing a collective complaint against Belgium for making essential services inaccessible to people unable to use digital devices. The complaint was filed with the European Committee of Social Rights, which oversees States’ compliance with the European Social Charter.
What is the digital divide and why is it a growing problem
Not everyone has equal access to digital processes. What may seem straightforward to some can be a barrier for people who want to access these services if there is no alternative to doing it through digital means.
Governments and institutions are increasingly integrating digital services into their catalogue and eliminating access through non-digital means. That is what is happening in Belgium, where digital means are increasingly no longer just an option, but the only way to access some public and essential services. That means that persons who are unable to use digital means (including groups such as persons with disabilities, older people, and people experiencing poverty), risk being further excluded.
Why the Council of Europe?
Our complaint argues that the Council of Europe’s European Social Charter binds the signing states to provide essential public, private, and social services through non-digital means. This might translate to accessible phone lines, physical offices, contact by mail, etc. This provision aims at preventing essential services from becoming accessible only digitally, excluding certain categories of people systematically.
Unia and the Combat Poverty Service coordinated the complaint to the European Committee of Social Rights (the monitoring body in charge of the enforcement of the Charter), collecting hundreds of testimonials . However, only pan-European organisations can proceed with the claim, therefore we joined Age Platform Europe, ATD Quart Monde International, and International Federation of Human Rights in filing the complaint on behalf of the coalition of Belgian organisations.