{"id":126181,"date":"2022-06-11T16:48:04","date_gmt":"2022-06-11T23:48:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=126181"},"modified":"2022-06-11T16:48:04","modified_gmt":"2022-06-11T23:48:04","slug":"is-sri-lanka-being-digitally-colonized","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2022\/06\/11\/is-sri-lanka-being-digitally-colonized\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Sri Lanka being digitally colonized?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shenali D Waduge<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n
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Colonization was when people were sent to occupy territories and claim them as their own drawing artificial borders and christening them with artificial names. Neo-colonialism prevailed using international systems created by the colonials. Digital colonization is when multinational tech companies extract, analyze and own user data & then claim to bring laws to protect data that which has been shared. Data imperialism encompasses access to business, people, social media & entertainment. The imperialists are today billionaires \u2013 Jeff Bezo, Elon Musk & Zuckerberg. While Europe controlled colonialism, digital colonialism is controlled by US. The newest ministry \u2013 Technology & Investment Promotion has coupled the departments of registration of persons (births & deaths), departments of Immigration & Emigration (travel\/migration), Sri Lanka Telecom (phone data) & its subsidiaries & 15 institutions including BOI & the Sri Lanka Standards Institute all merging to facilitate foreign direct investments \u2013 what do you think this will imply?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using the internet or any form of electrical system requires you to share your information with them. Your name, age, address, email, identity etc. This becomes a repository for those who run the back office patents. Data protection claims to come after sharing your data. All of the above ministries are the repository of Sri Lanka\u2019s entire digital information base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/www.allerin.com\/blog\/digital-colonization-with-internet-governance\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Where man ruled over the colonized resulting in the modern international trade & associate systems, technology has taken over \u2013 the state & corporates are equal shareholders in the manner they use surveillance over people & is part of the notorious new world order. Where people, goods & services were imported or exported \u2013 today \u2018digital veins\u2019 are able to cross oceans and borders. The whole world is today wired, fiber-optic cables, cloud servers are used for data extraction. Where nations had militaries to defend or attack, today\u2019s attackers are a bunch of programmers. What cheap laborers did during colonial times is being done with a touch of a computer button and movement of a mouse or cursor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The digital colonialism is also connected to crypto technology (Blockchain) \u2013 legal banking services, systems, goods & services are offered to individuals to function outside capitalist or state monopoly. It\u2019s the \u2018new-capitalist\u2019 way or an alternative capitalist path. Thus, it has the ability to encompass economic & social domination of even a nation. Sadly, while colonialism never ended & led to neocolonialism the digital colonialism is far more dangerous. In colonialism and neocolonialism people could identify the enemy & take action against any violations, in digital colonialism \u2013 the enemy is unknown and can never be identified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If colonials controlled all colonies, digital colonialism controls everything in the digital world. What is more frightening is that it utilizes tools of both capitalism & authoritative governance to control and manipulate anything and anyone. Computers are the modern dictators & totalitarians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How is this happening?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s take software \u2013 the process codes once shared by programmers is being held by a handful & with copyrights. Then internet became centralized with Facebook & Google monopolizing. The cloud services commenced with software operated by big tech companies. Cloud services facilitate artificial intelligence systems and this enables the control of people\u2019s lives. All this sounds impossible, but the reality of information being used for the wrong reasons has to always be kept in mind in a world full of corrupt & corruptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bottom layer of medium range phones\/smart phones as well as others who use social media platforms are all under the control of foreign imperialists without their knowledge. They make money from renting IP, branding smartphones while the components needed to manufacture are all obtained from resource-rich & untapped developing countries for a song & as \u2018investments\u2019. All the big high tech companies have been accused of child labor in these poor nations. These platforms are used to subtly manipulate & influence our thinking. This is what Edward Snowden revealed in 2013 \u2013 that all of the main internet search engines share information with National Security Agency via PRISM program. Even country data as well as corporate data are under NSA radar across the continents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Microsoft shares much with intel & law enforcements including surveillance \u2013 Microsoft Aware\u201d purchased by Brazil & Singapore police with facial recognition cameras. Microsoft also offers prison software solutions digitalizing all prisoner details from reasons for imprisonment, parole and post-release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The more digitalization takes place in every sphere of life starting out from education \u2013 the data is controlled elsewhere. Imagine student data on a system \u2013 entire life of the child is monitored from arrival time to meals, grades, behavior etc. The child is profiled in such a way that would even embarrass the parents! Note how it has become easy to imprison anyone & secure access of their lives digitally. To whose benefits are these done eventually?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Facebook has entered a deal with India\u2019s largest corporation, Reliance Industries, in a bid to monopolize the entire food supply chain in India. This deal could put the food security of more than 820 million people at risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How Meta aims to dominate India’s agriculture sector<\/a><\/blockquote>