Electronic colonialism
[4] Spurred into existence by the "demise of Communism," market globalization and rapid innovation within the communication technology sector, Electronic Colonialist Theory posits a contemporary form of neo-imperial reign.
[4] According to the theory, as the world becomes more dependent on 21st-century communication streams and lives become inextricably entangled with cyberspace and the Internet of things (IoT), the multimedia hegemonic control will scale in stride and continue to proliferate in the future.
[4] With the conclusion of World War II in 1945, the multimedia and communications sector began its trans-border expansion as the advent of television became a cornerstone of advertising and consumerist trends.
[8] The origination of the concept draws on early colonialists' arrival on African shores to make profit and fulfill imperial objectives through enslavement and exploitation of local labor to obtain the maximum amount of natural resources and raw materials present.
According to this version, communication systems such as social media platforms and infrastructures that enable network connectivity in the Global South are present exclusively for data harvesting,[10] profit generation, storage and analysis.
[3] Furthermore, digital colonialism can be defined as the retrieval and control of data from individuals without obtaining clear consent from them, "through communication networks developed and owned by Western tech companies.
[9] This has led to a type of "tech hegemony" where technological elites in the United States have convinced people that the public must follow a ruling-class layout for operating in the digital world.
[3] The accumulation of this information into Big data results in the generation of a digital profile for millions of users, which carry sensitive and valuable insight into the individuals.
[3] Platforms like Netflix structure their content and marketing around this information to suggest ways to make the streaming service easier or more personalized for its users.
[17][18] When the force of this position is exerted on regions with limited infrastructure and data protection laws, the researchers in the area submit that the "business model transitions into a form of digital colonialism.
[23] In this scenario, companies such as Facebook and Alphabet generate profit from their software and Online Services in the region, rather than actually engaging in the development in long-term, local infrastructure to provide steady economic growth in the Global South.
[24] In turn, digital neo-colonialism illuminates more subtle, indirect forms of domination that function by pushing a "new normal" concept and involves a complicated network of public and private participants.
[24] ICANN is a nonprofit made up of multiple stakeholders dedicated to ensuring the safety and stability of the internet by maintaining and operating a number of databases, including IP address and domain name systems.
Even after the U.S. gave up direct control of the nonprofit to multiple stakeholders in 2016, the country's free-market principles and corporate culture remained largely baked into the structure of the organization.
[11] Some authors have explored more active solutions to resistance, including data-flooding software designed to confuse algorithms and wearable masks or tattoos that can befuddle facial recognition.
