Media safety of university students through the lens of the second-level digital divide: a critique of the «digital natives» concept and a typology of risks

Abstract

The article offers a critical analysis of M. Prensky’s concept of «digital natives» as applied to university students. It is shown that the original metaphor is not grounded in systematic empirical evidence and does not withstand verification by contemporary research. The author argues that the intensity of digital media use is not equivalent to media competence or readiness for safe online behaviour. As a theoretical alternative, the concept of levels of the digital divide is examined, which involves a sequential distinction between the first level (access), the second (skills and usage) and the third (outcomes). It is argued that students’ media-safety risks are localised predominantly at the second level, since access for this audience is practically universal. Drawing on current data from 2025, including the decline of the digital literacy index of Russians for the first time in seven years, the skills-based nature of the gap is demonstrated. The author proposes an original typology of students’ media-safety risks. It comprises content risks, communication risks, consumer-technical risks and the risks of synthetic media, each of them related to a specific second-level skills deficit. The typology is constructed as a projection of second-level deficits and serves as a theoretical basis for the subsequent development of an applied model for fostering media safety in the university educational environment.