Abstract: The highly digitalized social field has invariably given rise to a large number of digitally disconnected and digitally disadvantaged people, revealing the digital inequality behind the achievement of digital technology in creating a good life. To bridge the digital divide, it is necessary to recognize and prove the right to digital participation from the perspective of rights. The right to digital participation is an exclusive right of the digitally disadvantaged group, which is relative in nature. It utilizes data and information as carriers of rights and has the connotation of being physical, skill-based, and having the right to remedies, meeting the basic needs of every citizen to participate in a smart society. As a fundamental right, the right to digital participation primarily reflects the relationship between citizens and the state. It manifests as a right to participation based on equal opportunities and a right to development with substantial equity. From the perspective of the rule of law, a protection model of fundamental rights is more conducive to safeguarding citizens’ rights to digital participation. State obligations for the right to digital participation can be constructed in three dimensions: respect, protection, and provision.

Key words: digital participation rights, digitally disadvantaged groups, data rights, state obligations