The militarization of cyberspace has been under way for more than a decade, but only in the last few years have the telltale signs appeared suggesting that the United States is erecting a new digital wing of its permanent national-security state. Three years ago, for example, came the birth of the 24th Air Force, at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, and Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. The 24th claims to be “the newest numbered air force,” as well as “the first-ever unit designated for the sole purpose of cyberspace operations.” According to its fact sheet,

Since the 1990s, digital inclusion discourse has come a long way in addressing the role of social context and social infrastructures in making Internet access meaningful. Scholars, such as Dailey, et al. (2010), Selwyn (2004), Hargittai (2002), Warschauer (2002), and DiMaggio and Hargittai (2001), demonstrated that going online requires more than a live wire into the home. According to these works, digital inclusion requires attention to individual skills and know–how, social and community support systems, and results in various modes of access.

Recently, there has been considerable debate over whether President Obama should run against the Supreme Court as part of his reelection campaign. High-ranking Democratic Rep. James Clyburn has endorsed the idea, and Obama himself has seemed to test the waters with anticipatory criticism of a decision striking down his health-care law as unconstitutional.

Entrepreneurs, businesses, NGOs, and governments exalt mobile technology as a game-changing tool to fight global poverty. But what if our eagerness to connect the world is inadvertently exacerbating the global economic divide?