While the colonialism of old involved “the looting of gold and silver and the ransacking of nations,” digital age neocolonialism is all about “forcing citizens and countries to use certain technology while extracting their personal data,” Facebook whistleblower and censorship expert Ryan Hartwig tells Sputnik.

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While the colonialism of old involved “the looting of gold and silver and the ransacking of nations,” digital age neocolonialism is all about “forcing citizens and countries to use certain technology while extracting their personal data,” Facebook whistleblower and censorship expert Ryan Hartwig tells Sputnik.

The Internet has become an instrument of digital commerce for Global South countries, while its users’ data is being harvested and sold for profit.

[…]

Through massive investments in digital infrastructure projects in the Global South, Western big tech companies are able to influence policy decisions and economic development in those nations.

“The United States, through its proxies such as Facebook and Google, has already effectively enforced a global dictatorship on the world and enslaved millions of individuals by controlling their data,” Hartwig remarks.