Towards Digital Equality: Assessing Youths’ Digital Literacy Capabilities

Indonesia has ranked fourth in the country with the most internet users in the world as of December 2019. However, even with the big number of internet users, there is still a gap even with rapid internet penetration in the country. This modern gap separates between digital literate and digital illiterate. While internet users are predominantly youths, they are not automatically digital literate. Therefore, this study aims to measure the digital literacy index among youths, and further analyze digital skills based on various demographic variables. This research used a quantitative approach through statistical analysis. Data was collected through online surveys with a total response of 428 participants. The population of this study is youths between 17 and 24 years old and live in Jakarta and Yogyakarta. The result shows that participants’ digital literacy index reach 4.24 out of 5. Older participants also have higher digital skills than younger peers. There are no significant differences between male and female participants, although female adolescents have a slightly higher index. Lastly, participants with lower monthly expenses have a lower digital literacy index.