Reclaiming Technology: Power, Policy, and the Future of Digital Spaces

Reclaiming Technology: Power, Policy, and the Future of Digital Spaces

A video clip of a Swedish politician is going viral, where she claims how digital technology failed to serve its purpose, leading the government to decide to discontinue its use. She is citing a lot of credible resources to prove her point. Educators across the globe are enthusiastic about it, sharing this clip through various channels. Most teachers experience the negative effects of digital technology in the classroom and how children are rapidly losing their attention span.

We know technology is not serving its purpose in the classroom. We also know several other things. For instance, we know that gender discrimination goes against the principle of equality. We know caste- and religion-based discrimination weaken the social fabric. We know corporates enjoy more tax relief than common taxpayers, and so on. Does that mean we discontinue these practices ? Here comes the question of power—who decides for whom?

In this particular context, we can ask a couple of questions: Who controls this digital technology? What do they intend to do? What restrictions do they have, if any? Does the government have the power to regulate big technology companies, or do these companies control the government?

What I am trying to say is that what happened in Sweden is a small and insignificant event in the face of hegemonic digital technology, which is the reality of our time. And in my opinion, there is no way out of it—only a way through it.

Let’s understand this with an analogy. In the mid-19th century, the train was introduced in India. By the end of that century, its network had spread across the country. Imagine the enthusiasm of a villager or a common person at that time—seeing the vast railway network, the opportunity to travel from one place to another, and the significant reduction in travel time. It must have been overwhelming. Many of them set up small businesses around railway stations, selling food and other items to travelers. All that was visible to the naked eye was that it revolutionized how people traveled. Little did they know that this was a gigantic machine carrying British imperialism to every corner of the country, extracting its resources.

Most of us who are enthusiastic about digital technology are like those small shop owners around railway platforms. Social media influencers, for example, can make some money, but little do they know that they have absolutely no power over how this system functions and in whose favor it operates.

The problem with the spread of the railway during the British Empire was not solved by boycotting it. The problem lay in political understanding, and the solution was also political. The same railway, which was once a symbol of British expansion across the country, is now the lifeline of the Indian economy.

What changed? The answer lies in who controls it. This time, the challenge is bigger and more subtle. A few incidents, like the one in the video, can serve as triggers for us to engage with this issue. And how do we engage? I suggest starting with these four books:

1. The Age of Surveillance Capitalism
2. If Then: The power and politics of Algorithm 
3. Techno-Feudalism
4. Nexus

Also, I am attaching a video of one of my recent TEDx talk on this topic. Find the link below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jcv3P6lwhq8&t=9s