The Moving Targets of Digital Justice
Dear Reader,
With respect to international trade, after the frenetic disruptions of April, this month saw us return to a calmer equilibrium, though one still teetering on the brink of geopolitical and economic chaos. The Trump administration seems to have been the first to blink, having agreed to a 90-day halt to its all-out trade war with China, using the period for high-level negotiations while both parties mutually reduced tariffs by a considerable number. Commentators have argued that Trump clearly underestimated the local blowback from these measures and the capacity and resolve of other countries to retain their autonomy. Yet, most agree that things are far from over, and this structural upheaval cannot simply be rolled back.
Indeed, the digital front has remained a point of contention throughout this process. In its own pushback against the tariff bullying, the EU, for instance, levied major fines on Meta and Apple, and is posturing towards more aggressive intervention going forward. This resolve was only stoked in recent weeks, with the recent revelations of Silicon Valley’s extensive influence in shaping the Bloc’s Code of Practice on General Purpose AI. Similarly, it is notable that in the trade deal that was secured between the US and UK, the latter refused to be swayed on its digital taxation policy, which was something the Americans would have wanted. Meanwhile, in the subcontinent, even as Trump boasts of progress in negotiations, reports indicate that India is seeking significant advantages for the domestic tech sector, and last week even threatened retaliatory tariffs if the stalemate continued. Given these examples, it appears that the hegemon is unable to bring even its key allies to heel for its proposed new order and may soon resort to renewed exhortations of economic and diplomatic force.
Shifting back to Europe for a moment, one cannot help but mention a truly astonishing event that occurred in May. Essentially out of the blue, a major black-out occurred that affected almost the entirety of Spain and Portugal, as well as small parts of France. This sudden failure of the energy grid of three major European nations lasted for over 10 hours, affecting essential services for upwards of 55 million people. Perplexingly, there still seems to be no consensus on the principal cause for this breakdown. Most authorities have ruled out a cyberattack, so we are left with a sense of the incredible vulnerability of our deeply integrated and ubiquitous technological infrastructures. Indeed, if this was not unnerving enough, there has also just been a major network outage also in Spain, affecting millions across the country. Much like the Microsoft CrowdStrike outage last year, the staggering dependencies of contemporary institutions on this technological backdrop are brought into full view with such crises.
Reflecting on these events, especially as we chart the outlines of what a green transition may look like, it is important to think about how decentralizing such infrastructural frames could work. Moreover, such a task is all the more critical, for it might both achieve greater technological resilience while also allowing us to tackle the politics of infrastructural power and its capture today.
Speaking of precisely such power, recent weeks also saw more instances of regulatory backlash against the monopolies of Big Tech, specifically in the Global South. Last year, Meta was fined a total of nearly $300 million by three different regulatory bodies (competition, advertising, and data protection) in Nigeria. A few weeks ago, it lost its appeal in the high courts and is now subject to pay. As has become the norm, it is now indulging in a form of blackmail, claiming it may have to end operations in the country if liable to such penalties. Fortunately, local authorities are unlikely to budge. At the same time, both Brazilian and Turkish authorities have launched probes into Apple’s business for alleged antitrust violations.
Finally, in other news, this month also saw the release of an important new study on the potential impact of Generative AI on jobs. Co-authored by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and Poland’s National Research Institute (NASK), the report argues that 1 in every 4 jobs worldwide is exposed to being transformed by the rapidly advancing frontiers of AI. They do stress that transformation is not replacement, and that some cross-section of these forms of employment may not change in quality, but only in required skill sets. However, it does consider the possibility that other jobs may be de-skilled or lead to chronic forms of under-employment. Such a forecast ought to be read in conjunction with the steady erosion of white-collar techwork that has been ongoing for a couple of years now. Indeed, according to some reports, 2024 saw 238,461 tech employees laid off, averaging around 653 a day. This year, there have already been 73,064 people impacted by layoffs, averaging 522 a day. The numbers go some way in capturing the dire reality that awaits if such projects fail to materialize. While the economic turmoil of recent months is a factor, Big Tech firms have also explicitly cited a streamlining of operations made possible by AI tools. As progressive voices have long argued, the unemployment crisis generated by capitalism cannot be confronted by tinkering on the margins. It requires ambitious and transformative projects of socio-economic change.
Returning to the issue at hand, this month on DataSyn, we bring you a thoughtful collection, each feature engaging different facets of our current historical conjuncture. Our first piece takes a synoptic view, bringing a southern lens to bear on current conceptualizations of our crisis-state, and critically building upon them to go further. Our second piece explores the framework and arguments of an important new book. Finally, our third piece looks to map the complex north-south political dynamics now playing out around data centres.
The Datasyn Team
DIGITAL DISSENT
Digital Justice, Neoliberalism and the World of Perma- and Poly-crisis
Anita Gurumurthy
It is hard to dispel the impression that the ground is shifting beneath our feet, with the political and economic order of the last several decades entering a period of acute crisis. In such a state, it is imperative that the forces of resistance and progressive change evolve to meet the moment. Anita Gurumurthy provides a view from the South, mapping the faultlines and contours of this emerging terrain of struggle.
Read on.
THE NEW DIVERGENCE
Reading Technocolonialism: Infrastructures of Caring From a Distance
Susan Sreemala
In the midst of institutional breakdown, devastating wars and climate change, the urgency of humanitarian action has come to centre stage. What’s more? The affordances of AI and Big Data have been championed as the key for responding to these mammoth challenges. In her latest book, Mirca Madinou examines the cracks in this narrative and how it often reinforces power asymmetries between the north and the south. Susan Sreemala explores these arguments and their implications.
Read on.
THE BIG EXCESS
Extracting the Planet from Planetary AI
Eshani Vaidya and Viraj Desai
With the AI space increasingly coming to define the trajectories of technological investment and decision-making, it is important to keep tracking how this space is located vis-a-vis the nexus of contemporary power. To this end, Eshani Vaidya and Viraj Desai put the spotlight on the materiality of AI, looking to investigate the political battles currently being waged around data centres, and how the countries of the majority world figure in them.
Read on.
The Sins & Synergies Lounge
Google knew it couldn’t control what the nation and its military would do with Project Nimbus, a confidential internal report obtained by The Intercept reveals. Check out this thoughtful analysis on the implications of this revelation and the way forward in holding the tech giant to account.
Tune into the Oxford Internet Institute’s critical roundtable bringing together Southern voices to bear on critical debates in internet, data, and AI studies.
How does the right to be forgotten work in the age of Generative AI? Heley Higa, Suzan Bedikan, and Lily Costa chart the course for reimagining privacy and the right to be forgotten from an internet that no longer just stores data but also transforms and regenerates it.
With enormous investments in AI agents by Big Tech, the time for the emerging technology to demonstrate its efficacy has arrived. Before that happens, Ruchika Joshi asks critical questions about the technology that could shape its governance. Also, check out this extensive scenario mapping on superhuman AI capabilities from a project headed by OpenAI whistleblower, Daniel Kokotajilo.
What is the place of Google in capitalism? Bringing a fresh approach to the question, check out Shane Terrance Miller’s compelling argument for looking at Google’s advertising capital as a hybrid form of merchant capital.
Lastly, don’t miss this riveting story of how community-based movements are fighting against the cryptocurrency mining operations mushrooming across the state of Texas.
Post-script
DataSyn is a free monthly newsletter from the Center for Global Digital Justice, featuring content hosted by Bot Populi.
DataSyn is supported through the Fair, Green and Global Alliance.
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