Reframing digital literacy

Digital literacy has emerged as a foundational competency for personal development, social participation, and civic empowerment, driven by the deep integration of digital technologies and an accelerating global transformation. However, dominant international digital literacy frameworks remain characterized by “context blindness” and “power unconsciousness,” leading to a profound crisis of adaptability in their application within the Global South. Drawing on a systematic literature review, this study integrates postdigital literacies theory and global information ethics to propose a three-dimensional “Competencies–Context–Power” framework. This framework is applied to systematically examine the epistemological limitations, semantic mismatches, and cultural–cognitive injustices inherent in the cross-cultural transplantation of mainstream models, while exploring digital literacy as a localized socio-cultural practice. The study further analyzes the dual impact of generative artificial intelligence (AI) on digital literacy—both as a tool for cognitive empowerment and as an infrastructure of power, and proposes pathways for its critical integration across the competencies, context, and power dimensions. By bridging critical pedagogy, postdigital studies, and global ethics, this study offers a transformative perspective on digital literacy. Ultimately, it aims to promote the evolution of digital literacy from technical transfer toward cultural empowerment and to provide theoretical and practical guidance for the autonomous digital development of the Global South through five strategic policy recommendations, including participatory framework co-construction, critical teacher education, and public AI infrastructure development

Citizen journalism · Cognitive reframing · Critical literacy · Digital Literacy · Digital Revolution · Empowerment · Literacy · Mainstream · Transformative learning · Digital Education and Society · Global Educational Policies and Reforms · Literacy, Media, and Education