Understanding Technocolonialism: How Digital Tech Perpetuates Inequality

Understanding Technocolonialism: The Intersection of Digital Technology and Colonial Legacies

In her groundbreaking book, *Technocolonialism: When Technology for Good is Harmful*, Mirca Madianou explores how digital technologies in humanitarian settings can perpetuate colonial legacies. This deep dive into the intersection of technology and power reveals the often hidden impacts on refugee camps and disaster zones.

The Rise of Technocolonialism

Technocolonialism is not a new phenomenon, but it has taken on new forms in the digital age. Madianou's research, spanning multiple continents, identifies six key logics that drive this phenomenon: accountability, audit, capitalism, technological solutionism, securitization, and resistance. These logics operate within the digital humanitarian machine, a complex system that connects private companies, governments, and affected populations.

Biometric Surveillance in Refugee Camps

One of the most striking examples of technocolonialism is the use of biometric systems in refugee camps. In Jordan’s Za’atari Refugee Camp, the largest Syrian refugee camp in the world, aid is only granted to those who submit to biometric identification. This system, while intended to ensure accountability, often serves as a tool of control and exclusion. Refugees are limited to purchasing goods from designated stores, whose prices are often higher than local alternatives. Madianou critiques these biometric systems as instruments of epistemic violence, grounded in ‘infrastructural whiteness,’ which reinforces racialized logics of exclusion.

Extractive AI in Disaster Zones

The digital response to natural disasters, such as Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, also reveals the extractive nature of digital humanitarianism. Many digital applications, such as chatbots and feedback systems, are designed in the Global North and coded in English, excluding local voices and reinforcing Eurocentric systems of knowledge. For example, the chatbot ‘Karim,’ designed to provide mental health support to Syrian refugees in Lebanon, was created without the input of human therapists. Refugees did not give informed consent for the use of their data, and there were no alternative forms of support available.

The Humanitarian Machine and Infrastructural Violence

Madianou introduces the concept of the ‘Humanitarian Machine’ to describe the material and digital infrastructure that connects various actors in the humanitarian space. This machine perpetuates colonial genealogies by reproducing hierarchies and automating mechanisms of exclusion and inequality. In Kenya, the Proxy Means Test algorithm, which uses machine learning to determine who needs assistance, has excluded thousands of people from receiving aid due to its high error rate. Support staff are often unable to provide solutions or override automated results, leading to a lack of transparency and accountability.

Everyday Acts of Resistance

Despite the pervasive control of digital infrastructures, Madianou highlights the agency of affected communities through the concept of ‘mundane resistance.’ In the Philippines, people refused to use the SMS service implemented after Typhoon Haiyan because its automatic messages failed to provide clear answers. In the Moria camp in Greece, refugees used video and photo testimonies and social media campaigns to document poor conditions and human rights violations, which served as evidence in their defense. These acts of resistance challenge the notion of technocolonialism as a monolithic force and demonstrate the constant interplay between structure and agency.

The Bottom Line

Understanding technocolonialism is crucial for developing more equitable digital humanitarian practices. By recognizing the material continuities of colonial legacies in digital technologies and infrastructures, we can work towards creating systems that empower, rather than control, affected communities. This requires a shift in the design and implementation of digital solutions, one that prioritizes local knowledge, informed consent, and transparency.