2023-04-26 16:00:41
We speak of a digital divide when we can see widening differences between people who have access to digital technology and those who do not. One of the population categories most affected by this type of fracture is the prison population.
The reintegration of a prisoner into society is essential. A successful insertion is a safeguard against recidivism. However, in our hyper-connected societies, it is essential that prisoners maintain a connection with the digital world. This link is also essential for obtaining a job following a release from prison. Especially since obtaining a job is often a condition for obtaining parole.
Nevertheless, the prison world is facing an unprecedented digital divide. Indeed, even if no law really prohibits Internet access in French prisons, the ban remains practically total. In addition, access to computers within prisons remains difficult.
In addition to the possibility of obtaining a job more easily on leaving prison, digital training within a penitentiary center also allows former prisoners to be able to better manage their daily life once their freedom has been regained. Indeed, the ever-increasing digitization of administrative procedures such as requests for social assistance, renewals of identity papers requires a minimum of comfort with even basic computer tools. Nevertheless, some detainees who received more or less heavy sentences have certainly not had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with these tools and are probably unaware of the online platforms which may prove essential for their reintegration.
In addition, in prison, all administrative procedures go through paper only, which creates a strong imbalance with the outside world. This concerns in particular registration with Pôle emploi, whereas in the world outside the prison walls, everything is done electronically.
The digital divide between the prison world and the outside world continues to widen. People are still trying to alert public opinion to the situation and a program specifically dedicated to digital in detention (NED) has been set up.
In order to reduce this divide, 600 people, including deputies, asked in an open letter of September 28, 2022 addressed to the Prime Minister, for the establishment of internet access in French penitentiary centers to facilitate the reintegration of prisoners.
The signatories of this letter believe that “Internet access within the walls is essential to recognize detainees as subjects of rights, limit the social exclusion caused by incarceration and facilitate the return to a free life”.
In 2020, Adeline Hazan, general controller of places of deprivation of liberty, had already considered that access to the internet and to digital tools more generally should be considered a priority. She considered that such deprivation was an obstacle to many fundamental rights such as freedom of expression, the right to education, but also “the right of a detained person to prepare for his return to the society “. Indeed, in a society where everything tends to be digitized, the deprivation of digital tools is a major obstacle for prisoners in reintegration since they will be out of step with the true functioning of society.
To reduce the lack of digital tools in detention centers, the NED program has notably enabled the provision of tablets, not connected to the internet, in certain prisons in France such as Dijon or Strasbourg. However, this might not be enough to reduce digital disparities since most prisoners do not know how to use it. Detainees must therefore be supported in the use of digital tools.
In addition, the Wake Up café association, which specializes in the professional reintegration of prisoners, has joined forces with the company Simplon to offer specific digital training at the Nanterre prison. The aim of this initiative is to allow volunteer prisoners to follow a 3-week remobilization course. At the end of this course, prisoners will obtain specialized training in digital professions, as well as a place in a Simplon factory when they leave prison. This initiative should be deployed in other prison centers in France with various partners.
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