Digital justice from Amartya Sen's perspective for algorithmic democratization

Abstract

Digital transformation has expanded access to information, services, learning environments, and spaces for participation, while also generating inequalities associated with algorithmic opacity, concentration of power, and limitations on agency in digital environments. The objective of this research was to analyze the normative architectures of digital transformation from Amartya Sen’s capability approach, identifying conditions that enable or constrain agency, substantive freedoms, and algorithmic accountability. A qualitative, exploratory study with a philosophical-normative orientation was conducted through documentary analysis, normative reconstruction, and critical-hermeneutic examination of 15 institutional documents published between 2022 and 2025, including frameworks related to digital education, capabilities, and governance, processed through MAXQDA-assisted qualitative coding. The findings revealed a predominance of approaches centered on access, connectivity, and efficiency, a fragmented conception of the digital subject, and limited mechanisms for explainability, auditing, traceability, and redress. Based on these findings, the Global Digital Ecosystem Regeneration Model (REDGlobal) was formulated across individual, collective, institutional, and structural-algorithmic levels. Digital justice requires integrating technological access with human capabilities, educational participation, institutional responsibility, and algorithmic accountability.