Legacy of the past, challenges of the present
Contemporary data colonialism
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18861/ania.2024.14.1.3804Keywords:
historical colonialism, data colonialism, digital settlement, colonialism by settlement, colonialism by exploitation, internal colonialism, commercial colonialism, neocolonialism, data extraction, colonialismo de dadosAbstract
The emergence of massive communication networks thanks to the Internet has generated a significant change in society by allowing unprecedented access to information. This phenomenon has led to the collection and exploitation of data, giving rise to the concept of data colonialism, which implies the domination and exploitation of data by nations or leading companies, similar to the exploitation of resources that occurred during historical colonialism. The use and exploitation of data by technology companies is constantly growing, giving rise to what is known as a digital settlement, where a small group of companies expand their influence by incorporating new users in already established digital spaces or in emerging digital territories. An analysis of the current state of data colonialism reveals the significant impact of Facebook and YouTube standing out as the main colonizing social networks, while the Meta corporation, which encompasses Facebook, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram, emerges as the main player in data colonization at a global level.
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