This article examines how the lack of internet access in UK prisons is worsening an already strained correctional system, particularly by deepening digital exclusion among inmates and limiting rehabilitation opportunities. It explores how most prisons remain poorly equipped for digital learning, despite evidence that access to technology can improve education, wellbeing and reintegration outcomes. Drawing on comparisons with countries that have adopted “smart prison” models, the piece argues that the UK risks falling behind by failing to modernise its prison infrastructure, ultimately undermining efforts to reduce reoffending and ease wider pressures on the justice system.
In jail and offline: Internet lack worsens UK’s prisons crisis
