As a result of the technological revolution, there is a doubling of the reality in which modern man operates. Many resources, activities, public and private services are moving to a virtual environment. Along with the phenomena of the surrounding world that are familiar to people, their digital varieties arise, closely interacting with their real-life counterparts. The article is devoted to digital inequality and digital poverty, the evolution of approaches to their study in domestic and foreign academic literature. It is concluded that the theories explaining their existence organically complement each other, giving an idea of the necessary and sufficient conditions for full human participation in the life of a network society. The coverage of different segments of the population with new technologies was not uniform. Special attention is paid to the factors preventing vulnerable segments of the population within the European Union from taking full advantage of technological innovations and fully participating in society. The division of society into digitally engaged and outsiders is a big social and political problem that humanity will have to deal with in the 21st century.