Digital Inequality and Unequal Opportunity for Young Entrepreneurs in Online Economies

Abstrak

This article examines digital inequality shaping unequal opportunity for young entrepreneurs in platform based commerce. The discussion develops a normative account of how technology access, digital literacy, and infrastructure quality create layered entry conditions that sort who can start, sustain, and expand online ventures. Limited devices and unstable connectivity disrupt responsiveness, content production, and customer trust, while uneven literacy affects compliance, dispute handling, and cyber safety. Platform governance and automated enforcement can intensify uncertainty when procedures are opaque and recovery pathways require administrative capacity that is unevenly distributed. The argument stresses that online markets are formally open yet substantively conditional, because success depends on continuous presence, reliable communication, and secure identity management. Unequal ability to learn, adapt to feature changes, and interpret performance indicators further widens separation among peers. The article concludes that digital inequality functions as a structural filter that converts social and spatial disparities into economic stratification among young entrepreneurs. It closes by outlining principles for fair opportunity centered on accessible infrastructure, robust learning pathways, and transparent accountability across public and private actors.